Tournament of Death
by Orgrim Doomhammer
Summary: Chappie 26 up. I moved the story to Zelda, since Link and Zelda are basicly the main chars. And besides, there aren't MANY chars left...
1. Together again

Tournament of Death  
  
Sequel to Super Smash Bros Melee Tournament  
  
*Note from the author: A lot of people were unhappy about the ending of SSBMT, so I decided to make a sequel. Not that this is going to be all joy and happiness, since then it wouldn't be a fic of mine, but I'm going to give Link and Zelda a second chance. I also got a lot of comments about Samus' hair, but I'm keeping it brown, since there are already two blondes in the story. This story is divided in very short chapters. That's for you to be able to keep track of the story, since it's all pretyy complicated. Since I'll have to wait until june 2002 to be able to buy a GameCube with Smash, this is a little bit of Melee for me. Enjoy.  
  
Chapter 1: Together again  
  
Zelda rested her head on her hand as a plate full of food was put in front of her. She looked at it with anger in her eyes. Anger for this one man on the opposite of the wooden table. Her father. As soon as the servants had put the food on the table, they left the dining-room of the castle. Harkinian started to eat, but kept his eyes fixed on his daughter. "Aren't you going to eat, Zelda?" he asked. Zelda didn't reply for a moment. "Jeez, father. There's so much. I don't know where to start." she said with an angry voice. Harkinian sighed, but his daughter continued without looking up at him. "I wonder what Link has to eat. Nothing, probably. I bet he's lonely and starving. But my belly is full and my bed is soft. So why am I complaining? I'm..."  
  
"That's enough!" Harkinian said, almost desperate. Zelda looked up at her father. "Ever since you've returned from that... tournament, you've been acting like this. Forget about that tramp!" Zelda slammed her fist on the table. "He is not a tramp!" she yelled. "He's a prince... without money, that's all."  
  
"He hasn't got a drop of royal blood in his body, I bet." Harkinian replied. "At least he acts like a prince! He's gentle and caring and..."  
  
"Filthy." the King said. "He has manners." Zelda said, ignoring her father's comment. "And he has saved my life."  
  
"Nonsense! This Ganondorf was just a harmless gentleman." Harkinian said, not wanting to picture Link as a hero. Zelda got furious. She had never told her father what this 'harmless gentleman' had done to her. The rape had left deep marks in the princess' young mind. "Ganondorf had..." she started, but she didn't finish it. Her father wasn't allowed to know it. No one was. Except for Link. He was allowed to know every little secret of her. Even that she had fantasies about him. But she hadn't seen him from the day she had said good-bye to him. That was months ago. She missed him so much. Sometimes, she would just sit on her bed and cry. Impa would then leave her alone, since she knew what had happened. Zelda didn't even know if Link was still alive, but she figured that his life wasn't as flawless as hers. "What?" her father asked. "Nothing." Zelda replied. Harkinian sighed again. "May I remind you that prince Marth is coming tomorrow? It would be nice if you would just forget about your little friend and be nice to him. He is very friendly and I bet more than twice the gentleman this 'Link' is."  
  
"Great. Another self-centered prince." Zelda replied, still resting her head on her hand. "I want you to behave, Zelda!"  
  
"Like with that last prince?" Zelda asked. A slight smile appeared on her lips. "You know how long it took me to convince the king of Lorbenia that his son had gotten an accident? While you threw him off the balcony! Thank the Goddesses that he had just broken his arm."  
  
"I only gave a slight push. How could I know he was so weak?" Zelda protested. Harkinian sighed again. "Behave, Zelda. Behave!"  
  
"If he is as arrogant as the last one, I'll push him off the top of the castle. And you're wasting your time, father. I won't marry anyone unless it's Link."  
  
"Just see Marth and I'm sure you'll forget about Link." Harkinian said confident. "Hmph. That remains to be seen." Zelda said, not impressed by her father's words.  
  
Link took shelter from the rain under a tree. He was thinking about Zelda as he took a bite from the bread he had stolen a few houres earlier. He felt horrible. He was cold, wet, hungry, thirsty and, above all, so incredibly lonely. He had never experienced it that bad. He had always been alone, but now he knew how it was to have someone as close as he had Zelda during the tournament. She had melted his heart during those weeks and he had gotten soft. His love-sickness forbode him to hunt. It had made him weak, but he had to survive. He had to eat. So he had started to steal the food he needed. He had become one of the people he used to kill. A low-life thief. The red marks on his back reminded him of the days after his good- bye with Zelda. He had tried to sneak into the castle to visit her. But there were just too many guards. Each time when they caught him, they completely beat him up. Link had tried it several times, but each time, the punishment got harder and harder. The soldiers had almost killed him once. But he refused to give up. He almost felt strong enough to try it again. He HAD to see her or it would kill him. He couldn't stand the loneliness anymore. It was driving him crazy. He wanted to feel her warm, soft arms around him again. He wanted to taste her sweet lips again, but there were big walls and well armed soldiers between him and her. He even cried about her. He had never cried. Not even when he was a kid. She had awakened emotions inside him he had never experienced before. And those emotions were tearing him apart. He stood up when he had finished his bread. Though it hadn't been his. It was the only thing he had eaten in days. But it strengthened him. He didn't allow himself time to completely regain his strength. He had to see Zelda. At all costs. He started to walk back to the town. Back to the people he hated. Only Zelda was his friend in Hyrule. Everyone else was his enemy. The soldiers who beat him up, the townsfolk who despised him and the royalty who treated him like a mere animal. He fell on his knees and started to cry. He was a mental wreck. He started to crawl to the town. He HAD to see her.  
  
"You know what I admire of you, Link?" the captain of the guards said. "You keep coming back." He gave Link a hard punch in his stomach. Caughing, Link collapsed. But he didn't got a chance to fall on the ground. Two soldiers held him at his arms. "What's the matter, Link? Getting a little weak, are we?" the captain said, punching Link's bloody face. "Why don't you just give it up, eh? Stop stalking the poor princess." the captain continued, laughing. "I just love her." Link murmered, barely able to speak due to his bloody, chapped lips. "I know." the captain said, kicking Link in his stomach. This had the same result as before. "Do you get off on this?" Link groaned. "Yes, I do." the captain said, punching Link furiously in his face. This was too much for the young man and he passed out. "The poor boy's had too much." the captain said sarcstic. The soldiers let Link go and he fell on the ground. "Leave him here." the captain ordered as he exited the cel where he had beaten up Link. The two soldiers followed him and one of them closed the door and locked it. The captain looked at his blooded fist. "Damn. Now I have to get that cleaned." When they left the barracks, which was the entrance to the dungeon, they got noticed by Zelda. She saw the bloody fists of the captain and got curious. She left the flowers she had been tending for what they were and headed for the barracks. She figured it had happened in the dungeon, so she walked down the old, dirty, stone steps and came in a damp, dark dungeon. She noticed there was only one cel occupied. She looked through the small window in the door and noticed, to her delight and dismay at the same time, that the broken man, who lay on the stone floor with his green cap and his brown boots, was no one less than Link. She got nervous. Link! She could barely believe it! But... Then the soldiers would have... No... Suddenly, Link looked a little bit too quiet. Had they... killed him? Zelda got scared. She had no key, so she couldn't reach him. So close and yet so far... What was she thinking? Her powers could give her access to everything. She grabbed the door-handle and concentrated. Suddenly, there was a small explosion in the palm of her hand and the door-handle simply vaporised because of the sudden heat and the door opened before her. Zelda did not waste time looking at the result of her action, but quickly kneeled next to the young man on the ground. It was Link indeed! But... his face... The soldiers had completely beaten him up. "Poor Link. The bastards..." Zelda murmered. She listened to his heart. He was still alive! It was the best sound she had heard in months. She tried to get him up on his feet, but he was too heavy for her to carry alone. She could use magic to lift him up, but then she would have to remain concentrated all the way to her room, or else she would drop him and he could make a nasty fall which could be fatal in his current condition. She could go and get Impa, but she didn't want to leave Link alone in the dungeon. If the soldiers would return, they would hurt him even more. She decided to just sit there until Link would wake up and be strong enough to walk for himself and put Link's head carefully in her lap. Then at least he would have something comfortable to lay on. Zelda figured it must have been the most comfortable he had ever laid on in those months. She figured it must have been as awful to him as it was to her to be alone. Even worse for him. He had no family, no friends, no place to stay, no money and no food. "It's not fair." Zelda murmered with her voice drowned by tears. The world was so mean to Link. But now he was back with her. And they would have to kill her to touch him. She was sure of that. 


	2. Japan, 214 years ago

Chapter 2: Japan, 214 years ago  
  
"Incompetent girl. You die now, you know that?" a tall, strong man with long, white hair, armed with a long blade said to a seventeen year old girl in front of him. The girl had long, black hair. A ribbon held it in place and made a few strangs of hair fall before her ears. She had closed her dark-blue eyes. She wore a white, sleveless, cotton dress, which was decorated with red symbols. Underneath the dress, she wore white pants made of the same material. Red gloves covered her hands and a sheath hung on the back of her waist. The sword was in it and she held it with one hand as she sat on her knees on the ground, panting and supporting her weight with her free hand. Blood dripped down from her side and coloured her white suit. "Forgive me, Mother Nature..." she whispered. She slowly removed her sword from the sheath, which hung horizontally and not vertically like most of the samurai had. Her sword was short. It was covered with blood from the demon in front of her. The girl was able to use it with incredible skill and swiftness. She put the tip at the place where her heart was. "Chosing the easy way out, toots?" the man asked with a sarcastic tone. "My sister will become Priestess now. She will avenge me." the girl said without looking up at the man. "Rimururu? She can't handle that task. She's even more of a kid than you are!"  
  
"You will see." the girl said softly. She pressed the tip of her sword against her dress right when she heard a familiar barking. She pulled her sword back as the demon looked in the direction of the sound. The barking echoed through the cursed valley of stone and leafless trees. The girl looked up and indeed saw the dog she hoped to see. The dog which would bring her last bit of hope. It was a pretty big dog, black with white, wolf- like. He growled at the demon. Then appeared a twenty year old young man behind the dog. He was holding his sword at the ready. He wore a blue suit with metal pads on his shoulders, metal gloves and metal plates on his boots. Underneath the blue suit, he wore some kind of black chain mail. An orange cape followed his movements and some of his unruly, blond bangs hang in front of his blue eyes. His eyes radiated a certain nonchalant, but determined look. "We're not going to kill innocent girls, are we, Zankurou?"  
  
"Galford... Our pitifull boy. Still fighting for justice, I see?" the demon said, turning around to the young man and his dog. Behind Galford, someone else came walking. It was a fourteen year old girl, wearing the same outfit as the black-haired girl. Only she had a shawl wrapped around her head to keep her brown hair in place and the red markings were replaced by blue ones. She had something... tomboyisch about her. A flying ice-crystal floated behind her, following her where-ever she went. "Sis!" she yelled to the black-haired girl. A smile appeared on the girl's face as soon as she saw the three. "Hello, Rimu." Zankurou said. "Come to witness your sister's death?" Rimururu just looked at Zankurou with an angry look in her eyes. The crystal nervously floated behind her. Galford started to walk to Zankurou. "Well, Galford. Still in love with that girl?" Zankurou said as he pointed a finger at the black-haired girl, not removing his eyes from Galford. The young man startled. "Shut up!" he yelled. "You want to fuck her, don't you?" Zankurou continued with an evil smirk. Galford just got more and more angry. How could the demon know his deepest secret? Of all the beings in the world, only Poppy knew about that. Galford was able to talk to the dog, though no one believed he could do that. Poppy and he were best friends and they shared each other's secrets. Suddenly, Zankurou grabbed the black-haired girl at her neck and lifted her up. He was strong enough to do that with one hand. The girl startled from the sudden, swift move and dropped her sword. She tried to break free, but couldn't. "I've murdered a lot of innocent people in my life, Galford. So I won't hesitate to kill this one as well. But I want to toy with you a little, fighter for justice. You always were in my way and now it's time for me to take a little vengeance by ways of the person you love most."  
  
"If you kill her, I..."  
  
"You won't do a thing as long as I have her right here." Zankurou interrupted. Suddenly, a strange shriek echoed throught the valley and Zankurou was just in time to look up to see a hawk flying right in his face. The demon startled and let go of the girl as he tried to get the furious hawk off of him. The girl quickly walked to Galford and looked amused when she recognised the hawk. Galford noticed that she walked far from comfortable and held one hand at the wound in her side. The girl stretched out her free arm. "Come, Mamahaha." she said calmly. The hawk flew up, away from Zankurou and landed neatly on the girl's arm. "Are you alright, Nako?" he asked her, pointing at her wound. "I'm fine. Mother Nature is in more pain." Nakoruru said. Galford always called her Nako, since the young American thought all those Japanese names were pretty crap. "Blasted critter!" Zankurou yelled, pointing a finger at the hawk with a bloody face. "I will destroy you kids for my fun!" he yelled. Galford shove Nakoruru back as Zankurou charged the two with a howl impossibly made by a normal person. Right when Galford and Zankurou would meet with each other's blades, there was a bright flash and... Zankurou was gone. "What the heck..." Galford murmered, swiftly looking around himself to see if Zankurou would appear somewhere behind him. "Great move, Galford!" Rimururu yelled victoriously as she ran to her sister. Poppy barked enthousiasticly, but Mamahaha wasn't sure about it all. He seemed to be nervous. "I didn't do a thing!" Galford said, still confused. But his fear that Zankurou would strike from somewhere disappeared as the environment started to change back to it's original form. Trees started to grow, gras shot out from the ground and water poured down the distant waterfall again. The skies cleared and the sun peaked through the white clouds, causing a comfortable warmth. "Nature is healing. I can feel it." Nakoruru said with a releaved sigh. Galford was puzzled about it, though the evidence was clear that the demon was gone. He put his sword back in the sheath on his back, though he remained on alert. He looked at Nakoruru. Had she not heard what the demon had said? Or hadn't she taken it seriously? "Nako..." he started in a wave of courage. Nakoruru looked up at him, her dark-blue eyes in question. Those eyes always fascinated Galford. Pure innocence was written in them. "Eh... Never mind." Galford said as he quickly turned away from her, his eyes closed. His cape almost hit Nakoruru in her face. He started to walk away as Poppy followed him. His mission was successfull. The evil had been defeated. He didn't know how, but it was gone, even he could sense it. Now it was time for him to return home. To return to San Fransisco. He missed his family, that was true, but he didn't want to leave Nakoruru. Though he knew there was no chance for him with her. She had dedicated her life to protect nature as an Ainu maiden and Priestess. There was no time for love. Though Galford was sure Nakoruru saw him as just a friend and nothing more. "Where are you going?" Nakoruru asked as soon as Galford had walked a couple of meters. "Home." Galford simply said. "Why?"  
  
"My job is finished here." Galford continued without turning around. "But... you can stay a while. It would be great!" Nakoruru said, sounding a bit like an excited child. This surprised Galford. Nakoruru was always calm, shy and preferred to be alone. It wasn't a thing for her to get excited about something. This gave him a slight bit of hope. He turned around and saw her standing with her arm on her wound. He noticed he stood next to her sword. He picked it up at the blade and walked back to her. "ChichiUshi, if I'm not mistaken." he said with a grin as he sticked it out for her to grab. It was usual for samurai to give names to their weapons. Mamahaha flew up and Nakoruru grabbed the sword and sheathed it. She gave Galford a soft smile. It was a smile the ninja would never forget. Galford also didn't know that the event he had just witnessed was changing the world. Changing the universe. It was no longer 1788. It was 2002. He didn't know what had happened with time. And he wouldn't know for some time, since a large area was still stuck in 1788. And it was all part of a sinister plan. A sinister plan that would bring death and decay to Japan, the world and the universe.  
  
Nakoruru, who was an orphan, lived with her grandparents in a small house, somewhere in the great forests. Nakoruru wasn't often at home. She was usually outside in the forests. When she went there, she just picked a spot and sat down with her hawk, Mamahaha and her wolf, Shikuruu. She would then listen to the sounds of nature until it would turn dark. People who knew Nakoruru thought she was weird. A bit crazy, perhaps. Galford was aware that Nakoruru wasn't a normal girl. You could flatter normal girls with jewelry, flowers, compliments and chivalry. But, though Nakoruru shared the same sense of justice Galford had, she felt nothing for gifts or romance. She tried to keep them away from her as far as possible. This sometimes angered Galford. She was so impossible at times and she would deny all attempts of him to get close to her. She remained untouched by his words and his gifts. But Galford couldn't stay angry with her for long. She had stolen his heart, denying so was impossible. He sat against a tree and observed Nakoruru as she sat in between her wolf and her hawk. The celebrations were going on in town and there was a huge party because the evil had been defeated. Galford wanted to ask Nakoruru out, but when he saw her sitting like that, he got angry again and sat down as well. Poppy sat next to him and looked at his friend. "Look at her, Poppy. If I had such an exciting life, I..." Galford broke off his sentence and sighed. "I'm sorry, Poppy. I'm just... in love, I suppose." The dog softly whined and put his head on his paws. Galford looked down at the ground. "Crap. I should leave her to her peace and stop bothering her. I should respect her as the young woman as she is and find someone else." Poppy looked up again. His friend had always tried to be subtle when confronting Nakoruru. As far as the dog knew, the girl had no idea that Galford loved her. He put his head back on his paws again and closed his eyes. All these Human problems were too much for a simple dog. Galford looked up again. "Just look at her, Poppy. She's so beautiful with her fair skin and her long hair. I wish I could just... be with her. You know? I can protect her until I die, but I'll never be with her. Why can't I reach her? Is there something wrong with me? Can't she see how much I love her? Or does she just... not like me? I suppose I should stop trying. She deserves to live her life just the way she sees fit." Galford stood up. He decided not to bother her. Never again. He had to respect her and leave her be. When he looked at Poppy, he saw that the dog was asleep. He picked him up and started to walk back to town with a broken heart. He had to leave Japan. And as soon as possible. He wanted to return home. As far away from Nakoruru as possible. 


	3. New York, present day

Chapter 3: New York, present day  
  
Terry Bogard straightened his baseball cap as he readied himself for his next fight. His blue jeans, white, sleaveless t-shirt, white, cheap sporting shoes and red, sleaveless jacket were clear signs that he didn't really care much for fancy clothes. He had blond, long hair, which he had tied together in a long ponytail and which came out from underneath his cap. The twenty-three year old man closed his blue eyes as he breathed in. His best, and only, friend gave him a pat on the back. His friend had brown hair, which was kept up with a white hair-band. He wore a white t-shirt over which he had a black jacket with short sleeves. He wore black trousers and pretty decent shoes. On the back of his jacket was printed a golden circle with flames shooting out of it. His black gloves, which protected his hands against the punches he dealt, also beared the same symbol. Terry tightened his gloves. Dark-blue, fingerless, made from simple fabric. To protect his knuckles. The growd which surrounded the small arena was cheerful to say the least. Terry knew that most of them were drunk. Or stoned. Or both. He hated this place. He hated to fight here. "Okay, Terry. We've got one down. That remains two. If you get tired or you think you won't make it, let me in it, okay?" Terry's friend said to him. "Yeah, yeah. No problem, Kyo." Terry replied, a bit nonchalant. Kyo grabbed the flap of Terry's cap and lifted it, looking his friend in the eyes. "No fancy stuff." Kyo said, knowing Terry far too well. "Yeah, yeah." Terry simply replied. Kyo gave the flap a pat downwards and Terry had to straighten it again. "Do we want to see blood?" someone yelled through a microphone, which was connected to some speakers. His voice echoed through the abandoned part of the moon-lit city. The dark part of the street was lit by a few torches and that was the place where Terry had defeated his previous opponent. The rules were simple. Teams of three which fought each other in turns. Kyo and Terry formed a two-man team, though. But they were known to be able to dispatch their opponents quickly. "Blood! Blood! Blood!" the crowd yelled. "What a morons." Terry murmered, just loud enough for Kyo to hear it. "Wel, then. Let's get started!" the man with the microphone yelled. "This round: Terry Bogard versus Chang Koehan!" The crowd had a simple reply: "Chang! Chang! Chang! Chang!" Terry put his hands in his sides and awaited his opponent. He startled when a giant stepped out of the shadows. The black bearded, bald, fat man wore a white suit and was at least two metres tall. In one hand he held a giant, metal ball and around his torso, there was a metal chain. He growled at Terry. "Couldn't find anything bigger?" Terry murmered. "Ready... Go!" the man yelled through his equipment as Kyo walked to the side. Chang started to run towards Terry as he swinged the metal ball above his head. "Enthusiastic, aren't we?" Terry said as he ran towards his opponent as well. When he was about to meet the giant, he dropped on his side, taking his fall with his hands as he used his legs to tackle Chang. Due to the man's speed, he stumbled clumsy and fell face forward. Terry felt the earth tremble as Chang hit the street. The crowd started to howl. They had not expected their champion to go down like that. Terry stood up and said: "Come on, fat boy. We haven't got all day." He didn't feel like beating up a defenseless opponent. Chang got up and decided to attack Terry more carefully. Terry ducked just in time to avoid Chang's metal ball, right before he punched the giant in his stomach. Much to the American's surprise, the giant didn't seem to feel the punch, but grabbed Terry at his collar and lifted him up. He struck Terry in his face with the metal ball, sending him flying through the air and making him hit the street with his face down. Terry felt himself starting to loose consciousnes and he vaguely heard the crowd going wild. "Watch out, Terry! He's coming!" Kyo yelled. Terry heard his friend's comment and rolled to the side with his last strength. Just in time. He saw the metal ball striking the ground next to him, causing a crack in the street. With the utmost effort, the American stood up and noticed his face was bleeding. He saw the metal ball racing towards him again, but stepped to the side to avoid it and kicked Chang in his face. The giant stumbled backwards with a dazed look in his eyes. Terry kicked him in the hole of his knee, forcing Chang to fall on his knees. Terry faced the giant with his back and spinned around, kicking Chang in his face with a lot of power. Chang's head bounced off of Terry's shoe and the giant collapsed backwards on the ground. "That's it, Terry!" Kyo yelled. Terry waited for Chang to get up again, but he didn't. The big man was unconscious. "I believe we have a KO here!" the man with the microphone yelled. This was followed by howling from the crowd as Terry walked back to Kyo, releaved, not wasting time with some yell of victory. The American sat down and tossed his cap on the ground. "Nice job, Terry. You don't mind if I go now?" Kyo asked. Terry looked at his friend with a bloody face. "I've got a headache." he simply said. This made Kyo laugh, but at the same time, he hoped that his friend had no permanent damage. Chang's metal ball didn't seem like a soft weapon. Though Chang hadn't been able to hit hard, fortunatly. "Okay, buddy. I'm going." Kyo said, walking to the arena. "I see we're going to have the final battle here." the commentator said. Kyo spread the fingers of his hand and a small fire began to burn in his hand. When he closed his hand again, the flame disappeared. Kyo was able to cast some magic, though in a different way Hylians did. He didn't have to concentrate, but his spells were limited. It was odd for a Human to be able to cast spells, but Kyo was a living example that it was possible. He had polished his spell casting abilities to match his fighting techniques. Some punches of him were made with small explosions of fire. The fire he used wasn't normal. It hadn't had the heat of normal fire. It was... cooler. This was the result of him being no Hylian. He would never be able to cast spells the way Princess Zelda of Hyule did. She was well known for her spell-casting abilities throughout the world. It was Kyo's dream to meet her once. Perhaps she could teach him a few tricks. But, since no modern technology was allowed in Hyrule, he had to walk or take a horse to get into Hyrule. No planes, trains or cars were able to get into the land. Kyo was sure he would meet her one day, but at that moment, the fight was more important. "This time it's Kyo Kusanagi versus Choi Bounge!" the commentator yelled. Kyo then expected anything... except what came out of the shadows. It was a very small guy, hardly half Kyo's size. He had claws mounted on his fists and had the same type of outfit Chang had. An old, dusty hat sat on his bald head and he wore a pair of sunglasses, though the sun was far to seek. The crowd seemed to admire him as much as they admired Chang, since cheers went through the street. "Let the fight begin!" the commentator yelled. The little guy didn't remain standing there, he speeded towards Kyo and before Kyo could react, Choi ran between his legs and stabbed his claws in Kyo's bottom. This made the young man stumble forward and it was followed by laughing of the crowd. "Why, you little..." Kyo said as he turned around to notice that Choi was gone again. Kyo felt the small man climbing on his back. Choi nestled himself on Kyo's neck and started to pound on his head using the backsides of the metal claws. Kyo helplessly stumbled through the arena, effordlessly trying to get Choi off of him. In a last attempt to stop the pounding, Kyo let himself fall backwards to try to crush Choi between him and the ground. But Choi was faster. He jumped off Kyo and the young man hit the street with his head. The crowd went wild and cried Choi's name. "Be careful, Kyo!" an unfamiliar voice echoed through the streets. Kyo looked at the source of it. He saw a girl standing. She had long, very dark-brown hair, nearly black. She wore a white t-shirt and shorts. Kyo estimated her seventeen. He also saw his blood on the streets when he turned around and felt the back of his head. He was indeed bleeding and it hurt pretty badly. With a growl, he stood up. He was furious. He saw Choi running towards him again, but this time, Kyo was faster. He grabbed Choi at his collar and threw him over his shoulder onto the ground. This was rapidly followed by Kyo letting his body fall down next to Choi and hitting his head with his elbow. This made Choi's head bounce back from the street, but Kyo wasn't planning on giving the little man a break. He quickly stood up and grabbed him at his collar again. Then, he made an explosion with the hand with which he held Choi, making the little man fly through the air and land a couple of meters away from Kyo, some parts of his clothes on fire. Choi slowly stood up, dazed from this all. Kyo ran to him and kicked him in his face as he passed by the midget. Choi bounced back and struck the street with the back of his head and didn't lift it up again. "Don't make me angry." Kyo said panting, his hand on the back of his head. He noticed Choi bleeding as well and, concerned as he was, he felt Choi's neck. He was releaved when he noticed he was still alive. "We have a KO!" the commentator yelled, convinced that Choi would not stand up again. The crowd was disappointed and howled again before they started to leave. Kyo felt a hand on his shoulder. "Nice work." Terry said. Kyo looked down. "I should try to control my anger."  
  
"And why would you do that? We won and we got the cash!" Terry said enthusiasticly. "Yeah." Kyo replied. "I guess you're right." He pointed towards the commentator. "Yaroka?" he asked. "Don't try to be smart with me with that Japanese crap of yours. Let's just go collect our money, okay?"  
  
"That's what I proposed, Terry." Kyo said as the two friends started to walk to the man. "Don't try to fool me. How can you say a whole sentence with just one word?"  
  
"Okay, okay. I said 'shall we?'. That's about the same, right? And it's been a long time since I've been in Japan, so don't sue me." When they reached the commentator, Terry sticked out his hand and said: "Cash." He didn't like the place and he also didn't want to stay there longer than necessary. "Here you go." the commentator said, handing Terry a small package of money. Terry quickly counted the bills. "Thanks." Terry said, turning around and starting to walk away. Kyo followed him. "Your social skills could use some polishing, Terry." he said. Terry started to laugh, right when Kyo saw the girl he had seen before. She looked so out of place there, so Kyo decided to walk to her. "I'll see you at home, Terry." he said, not taking his eyes off the girl. Terry noticed the girl as well and said: "Oh, I see. Don't forget the rubber stuff, eh?" Kyo looked at his friend disturbed. "Just kidding!" Terry said, raising his hands. "I'll see you at home, okay?" Kyo nodded and started to walk to the girl. "Hi, Kyo!" the girl said enthusiasticly as soon as Kyo approached her. "Hi." Kyo replied. "Don't you know how dangerous it can be here at night?" he immediatly said. "I know." the girl simply replied. "But I wanted to ask you something."  
  
"And who do I have the honor?" Kyo said, raising his eyebrow. "Athena." the girl said as she sticked her hand out. Kyo shook it. "I believe you know my name?" Athena nodded. "I'll immediatly ask what I wanted to ask." she said. "I saw you and Terry were just with the two of you during the fight and I wondered... Could I fight in your team?" This surprised Kyo. "No." he said. The girl looked down and sighed. "At least I tried. Will you bother to tell me why not?"  
  
"It's too dangerous."  
  
"I can take care of myself! And I need the money."  
  
"Well, well. Aren't we straight to the point." Kyo said, rolling his eyes. "And why do you need the money so badly?" he asked. "For medication." Kyo sighed. "Christ, another drug addict." he said. He wanted to turn around, but Athena said: "It's not for me! It's for my mother! She's terribly ill." Kyo turned around again. "And I'm supposed to believe that?" he said, studying Athena. She didn't seem to be addicted. She looked decent, though her clothes were a bit old. Her figure wasn't wrong either. And her legs... Well, they just couldn't get any better, according to Kyo's judgement. "Okay, then. Just take me to your mother and I'll see if you need the money." he continued, still not convinced that the money would be spent well. Athena smiled. "Good. Just follow me." Athena lead Kyo through the most dark and damp parts of New York the young man had ever seen. After a while, they entered one of the 'houses'. It was dark and Kyo felt a depressing feeling as he entered the building, which was coming apart, there was no doubt about that. Athena turned on the light-switch on the wall and Kyo was surprised to see light burning. It was a small lamp, hanging from the ceiling. It shed a soft light on the poor interiour of the building. "Welcome to my home." Athena said to the surprised Kyo. "Athena... Is that you?" a weak woman's voice sounded from the corner of the room. "Yes, mother." Athena said as walked to a matrass in the corner of the room and sat down next to it. Kyo noticed a figure lying on the matrass. She caughed as Athena felt her head. "It's worsening." Athena said, startling. "You haven't... fought, have you?" her mother asked, barely able to speak. "No, mother. I haven't. I wasn't allowed." Athena's mother looked up at Kyo. She was a young mother. Her brown hair was a mess and her brown eyes held no glitter of joy in them. "Thank you." she simply said, trying to smile. At that moment, Kyo forgot about his headache. He was shocked by all this. And he had suspected Athena of using drugs! He knew Terry would not like it, but he had to help them. His conscience ordered him. He kneeled next to Athena and put his hands on her shoulders. "Your mother can't stay here. And neither can you. You two are coming with me. Terry and I have some beds free." Kyo wasn't really telling her the truth, but he figured Terry and he could use the couch. "We don't want to be of trouble..." Athena said, looking sad. "You're not." Kyo said. He turned to Athena's mother. "You're going to sleep in a proper bed, ma'am." he said. Athena just looked at him. When Kyo noticed it, he turned to her and said: "I won't take no for an answer." 


	4. The return of an old friend

Chapter 4: The return of an old friend  
  
"Oh, crap..." Fox murmered as his Arwing went down towards the blue planet underneath him. He looked up and saw Wolf flying over him. Fox had been careless and Wolf had taken advantage of that. A part of his left wing had been shot off and Fox had lost control. His craft wasn't on fire, since there was no oxigen in space. He was lucky about that and he knew it. Or else he would have been roasted alive in his craft. The planet increased in size, no matter what Fox did to avoid a collision. "I'll get you one day, you stupid fuck!" Fox yelled in his transmitter, expressing his anger. It was met with laughter from the entire StarWolf squad. Fox's Arwing plunged into the atmosphere of the blue planet: Earth. He saw the land drawing closer and it didn't take long for him to be able to see trees. The green things approached him rapidly. Fox pulled his stick as hard as possible, but it was no good. His Arwing, hot from entering the atmosphere, started to hit the larger trees. "This is not so bad. I can do this. No problem. It's going to be a piece of cake. I'm going to make it." Fox murmered rapidly as leaves flew about his Arwing and trees lost their tops. "If I can just park in the forest, I'll minimise the damage..." he said, but when he had said that, the forest disappeared and made way for an open field. "This must be my lucky day..." he murmered, his eyes wide open, not noticing the sarcasm of his comment, because he was just too scared to do so. He yelled as his Arwing crashed into the earth, shoving a few hundred meters, taking dirt and bushes with him. "Ah! Oe! Ai! Au! Oh!" Fox yelled as he saw the amount of debris passing his window. He also noticed the tree upon which his craft would crash. "Great... Just great..." he murmered, right before the craft's right wing hit the tree, tearing it partly off, but slowing the Arwing down to an almost complete stop. When the Arwing had stopped completely, Fox just sat back in his chair and felt his heart in his throat. "I'm alive!" he said panting and sweating. He noticed a part of the Arwing was on fire, nothing to worry about. But then, he noticed something strange. "What's that smell..." he said, right before he noticed what it was. It was the smell of gasoline. "Oh, shit!" he yelled. He quickly pressed a button on his interface and the cockpit shot open. He ripped his safety belt off and jumped out of the Arwing as fast as he could. He was barely out of the aircraft when it exploded with a loud bang, turning it into a giant ball of fire. The pressure of it send Fox flying through the air and he hit the ground a couple of tens of meters away from the wreckage, which was burning like dry wood. Fox covered his head with his arms as debris of the aircraft crashed around him. When Fox was sure nothing fell out of the air again, he turned around and sat up straight. He was dazed, his ears whistled and his clothes were burned. He caughed and saw the wreck of the Arwing. There wasn't a thing left that reminded of a proud craft of StarFox. He stood up, stumbled a bit and yelled to the sky: "Hah! It takes more than that to take me out, Wolf! I'll get my turn!" When he started to look around to see where he was, he noticed the walls of Hyrule Castle in the distance. A smile appeared on his face. "Finally a streak of luck! A good thing I paid attention during history classes!" he said as he started to walk to Hyrule Castle. Zelda would be able to help him get to the nearest space port. And then he could take a transport to the Lylatan Galaxy. Of course it was cool that he would meet his friend as well. Perhaps Link had been able to get in the castle. He was curious as he was happy to see them again. Then he remebered something. No modern technology was allowed in Hyrule. His headset and blaster! He looked for a recognisable spot and found it at a leafless tree. He walked to it as he removed his headset. He buried it under the roots of the tree together with his blaster. Then, he made way to Hyrule Castle.  
  
A blurry picture of an Angel. Complete with beauty and grace, holding him in her arms. He could see the being smile and opening her mouth. She spoke to him. Was he dead? He couldn't feel a thing. It was dark around him and there was no one except for the mystical being. Would he see the Goddesses now? "Am I... dead..." he asked with a soft voice. He sure felt like it. "No, Link. You're not dead! You're here! With me!" Zelda said enthusiasticly to a confused Link. "Z... Zelda? You're... an Angel?" he said, making Zelda laugh. "No, Link. I'm just your girlfriend." she said softly. Then it really hit Link. Zelda was with him! He could touch her, see her, smell her wonderful scent. He wanted to kiss her. He so badly wanted to kiss her! But his body didn't allow it. He was too weak. He felt hungry again. And ill. But what did it matter? Zelda was with him again! No more loneliness. No more emptiness. "Zelda..." he repeated. It was so great to say that name again. What a beautiful name it was! Only granted to those who deserved it. And Zelda was the only one who deserved it. "Can you walk, Link?" Zelda asked him, a concerned look in her shining blue eyes. "Don't know." Link replied. "We can not stay here. If the soldiers find us, there will be trouble." And then he would get seperated from her again... Never! With a groan, Link did his best effort to stand up. He was dizzy and his head pounded, but as soon as Zelda helped him getting up, he stood. "Lean on me." Zelda said and Link threw his arm around her shoulders as she did her best to support him. Slowly, the two started to walk. They exited the cell and the dungeon. They crossed the courtyard and went into the castle. It took them both a lot of effort to get Link up the stairs to Zelda's room, but they managed. But, right before they would enter Zelda's room, they got spotted. By Impa. She stood a couple of meters away from the couple and ran to them. She startled as she saw in what kind of condition Link was. "Let me take him, your Highness." she said to Zelda. Zelda was relieved. She felt she wouldn't be able to hold Link much longer. She opened the door to her room as Impa supported Link. The two ladies put Link on the four-poster bed and Zelda removed his boots and cap before she pulled the sheets over him. Link wasn't able to hold his eyes open and he was sweating. Zelda felt his forehead. Link had a pretty fever. "I've got to get some water. He needs to drink." she said as she wanted to stand up. Impa stopped her by putting a hand on her shoulder. "I'll go get some. He needs you now more then ever." Zelda nodded and Impa left the room, closing the door behind her. "Oh, Link." she said softly. "You don't deserve this." She said it with a sad voice, almost crying. It took a while before Impa returned with the water. But she had a nice surprise. When Zelda turned around and saw Impa entering the room with a bowl of water and a towel, she saw Fox entering the room as well. Zelda's eyes brightened as Fox bowed before her. "Nice seeing you again, your Highness." the Lylatan said. "Fox!" Zelda said. She hugged her friend and said: "How did you get in?"  
  
"I persuaded the guards that I was a Lylatan prince disguised as a fighter pilot. What a morons." Fox said with a grin, his ears changing direction as he said it. Before Zelda could ask the question, Fox answered it. "I crashed with my Arwing nearby. Wolf had taken the better of me. And while I was here, I figured I could pay my friends a visit. Impa told me Link is here, but... Is he okay?" Zelda looked sad. "See for yourself." she said, doing a step back. Fox kneeled next to the bed. "Damn." he simply said. "You can almost see his condition worsening." Fox noticed the scars and bruises on Link's face. "He's beaten up multiple times. And I think he hadn't really had the best of living conditions, right?" he said as he looked at Zelda. Zelda carefully shook her head. She felt all the more guilty, because of her easy life. While she had all the comfort in the world, servants, a warm bed, clean clothes, Link had to fight to survive. Every day. Tears formed in her eyes. Fox noticed it and stood up. "Hang on, buddy." he said to the motionless Link. He exited the room, followed by Impa, who closed the door. Zelda sat down next to Link on the bed and put the wet towel on his forehead. "I'm so sorry, Link." she said in tears. "You come just to see me and all you get is a punch." She wet his lips with the water. He wasn't reacting, but Zelda could feel his warm breath on her milky skin. He had to be sleeping. She sighed. If he slept, he would not feel anything. Zelda had no idea what to do, so she just stayed with him. Just as what she had done when he had been wounded by Ganondorf. And she prayed to the Goddesses that he would heal quickly. For in her eyes, of all people, he deserved least to suffer. 


	5. The first signs

Chapter 5: The first signs  
  
Terry walked through his house, a towel wrapped around his midsection. He used another towel to dry his blond hair. It had been a couple of days since Kyo had brought in Athena and her mother. The house was small enough, but with the four of them, it became even more difficult, though Athena's mother had been getting better over time. Terry didn't want to know in what kind of ruin she used to live. He had also noticed a change in Kyo's behaviour and Terry had figured Athena was the cause of it all. Athena's mother slept in Kyo's room and Athena herself in Terry's. Terry thought Kyo had been up early, since he wasn't on the couch anymore. Terry stretched his back. A couch wasn't really comfortable to lie on, but his young back was able to handle it. He figured Kyo had exited their house to take a walk. It was something Kyo liked to do in the early morning, though Terry thought he was nuts. When he passed the door of his room, he heard giggling. His eyes spread wide open as he focussed on the sound. It indeed came from his room. Suddenly, there was just one thought in his mind. Kyo hadn't taken a walk. No, he had... Terry didn't know how fast he had to open the door and he nearly walked right through it. Confirming his suspicion, he saw Kyo. He lay in Terry's bed and Athena rested her head on his chest. They were covered with the sheets, but Terry could see that they were naked. "Okay! What the hell are you two doing in my bed!? Did you fuck in my bed!?" Terry yelled furious. Kyo was surprised to see Terry, but remained calm. "Easy, Terry..." he started. "Easy!? Could you please do your filthy business somewhere else? One day, I'll be sleeping there! Get out of my bed!" Terry's comment met with two stupid looks from his friends. "Okay, okay. Then don't get out of it."  
  
"She was lonely, Terry." Kyo explained. "Well, obviously not anymore." Terry said. Kyo wrapped his arms around Athena and closed his eyes. "And what if we'll have little Kyo's in a couple of months, running around the place?"  
  
"Don't worry. We did it safe." Kyo murmered, not opening his eyes. "I hope you had a good time." Terry said sarcastic. "We certainly had." Athena said, running her hand across Kyo's chest. Terry sighed and left the room before he closed the door. He was angry. It hadn't been the bed, though he didn't really knew that. Kyo was three years younger then he was. And Terry had never had a girlfriend in his life. In his subconscious, he was just jealous. He walked to the living-room and got dressed. He had to get out of the house. He put on his cap and excited the building. It was small, but it was better than an apartment. He entered the busy streets of New York. He was used to see the Twin Towers, but they were gone. He sighed. He wasn't sentimental, but he sure missed them. The sun shone warmly and people were running about, doing their daily thing. Terry always wondered why people always were in such a rush. He was sometimes glad that his life was simple. No family to visit, no children to take care for, no wife whining at your head when you've drunk too much. No, his life was simple. Lonely, but simple. And simplicity meant happiness. Although, that was what some people thought. Terry knew there was something wrong with those people, but what had he to say to it all? Apparantly Kyo and Athena had found their happiness. Terry's time had yet to come. When or where or... how... That didn't matter. It would come. Sooner or later. He decided to just walk through the streets. He put the flap of his cap in front of his eyes and put his hands in his pockets as he slowly started to walk in a random direction. He felt a child running against his arm. When he looked up, the child had ran away again. He felt slow today, but it could have been the weather. He passed a large building. It was the bank. It was busy there as always. Customers, bankmanagers, masked men with guns, the helpfull ladies behind their desks... Terry stopped and looked at the bank. Masked men with guns? "Jesus, the bank is being raided..." he murmered as he saw one of the masked men hitting a hostage. Terry could call the police, but at that moment, he didn't thought of that. He started to walk to the bank, hoping he wouldn't get killed or something. At least that would bring an end to a simple life...  
  
"Hurry up with that money!" one of the raiders yelled. All the hostages were lying flat down on the floor. "I'm busy, I'm busy." the bankmanager said., tinkering with the lock on the vault. One of the bankemployees moved her hand under the desk, searching for a button. "I wouldn't do that, sweetie." a tall, red-haired man said. He had a faint greenish skin and his face was burned at some places, making him look even meaner. His eyes were burning like fire. He pointed a submachinegun at the employee. He was obviously the leader, since the rest of the robbers had masks on. "Ganondorf." one of the robbers said. "There's someone coming." Right after the robber had said that, the door to the bank got opened and Terry walked in, whistling a happy tune. "Goodmorning, fella's." he said. "I see we're having a party here. Could you please tell me what time it is?" The robber closest to Terry pointed his submachinegun at him. "Come in, shut up, and drop to the ground!" he said aggresively. "No, but seriously! If you look at my watch..." Terry said, holding his hand on the place where a watch is supposed to be and moving that arm forward. The robber instinctly took a closer look at Terry's arm. Terry then suddenly punched the man in his face with the hand which he had used to cover his arm. It was a hard blow and the robber got knocked to the ground. Terry ran to a desk as the men started to fire at him. He dropped himself on the floor and his body shove neatly behind the desk as bullets and pieces of wood flew around him. He searched the back-pockets of his jeans and was happy to find his gloves. He shove them on his hands and tightened them. He had a feeling he would be punching a lot of people. The bank employee made use of all the commotion and pressed the button which sent a warning to the NYPD. "Get that kid!" Ganondorf yelled. None of the robbers felt like getting closer to the spot where Terry hid, so they just emptied their magazines on the table, hoping to kill Terry by penetrating the wood. As Terry covered his head with his arms and wood flew about him, he knew he would not hold out much longer. He then noticed the robber he had knocked down standing up and he decided to move. He quickly ran to the man and grabbed him, turning the man's arm on his back and holding the man in front of him. The robber groaned and his collegues ceased fire. "Okay, guys. Now get the hell out of here or I break his neck!" Terry ordered. Ganondorf sighed. He aimed his gun in the direction of Terry. "There is no time for incompetence." He pulled the trigger and Terry felt the man he held shaking under the impact of the lead and the robber's screams were short-lived. In complete surprise and shock, Terry dropped the dead, bleeding man on the ground, exposing himself to the guns aimed at them. The men didn't seem to care for their fallen comrade. Terry raised his index finger. "Ehm... Can't we talk about this like the serious adults we are?" he asked. "No." Ganondorf said. "Kill him." he ordered. One of the men walked to Terry and put his gun against Terry's forehead. Terry just grinned. "Boy, are you stupid." In a swift move, he grabbed the man's gun with one hand and punched him in the face with the other. "God, I'm tough." Terry said, shooting a nearby robber three times in his chest. He had never used a gun before, so he just did what seemed logical. Pulling the trigger. He was surprised by the recoil. Nonetheless, he aimed his gun at the next man and shot him down as well. Ganondorf didn't reply. Someone was speaking to him out of nowhere. He was listening. "Okay. Will do." he said to someone who wasn't there. "We're out of here." he ordered the remaining men. Terry hadn't expected this. Ganondorf turned around and started to walk away from Terry. Suddenly, a purple, shimmering portal appeared from nowhere, right in front of Ganondorf. He simply walked in and his goons followed him. When the last one had left, the portal closed, leaving the former hostages and a surprised Terry alone in the bank.  
  
Somewhere in Japan, a young man was waiting for his boat to arrive. He wasn't wearing his armor anymore, but a simple dark-blue tunic and black trousers. He sat with his feet in the water, staring out in the sea. His dog Poppy lay next to him, together with a few sacks filled with his belongings. The sun stood low on the horizon and cast strange shadows over the landscape. Behind Galford lay the town. People were still celibrating. He had nothing to celibrate. He already thought it was a pretty big step for him to leave Nakoruru. "You know, Poppy. It's been so long since I've been in America. There just have to be some babes out there. Some normal ones." Another negative thought about Nakoruru had just escaped his mouth. He was getting used to them. And it was just all the better. Then he would forget about her. And besides, everyone knew Nakoruru was weird, so what the heck? "I've got a feeling I'm setting myself free, Poppy. Away with my fascination for her. I don't have to bind myself to anyone who doesn't even see me standing." She would loose a friend, but so what? If she couldn't love anyone, what would she had to do with friends? She preferred to spend her time between the flowers and the trees, so who was Galford to deny that to her? "Yep, let her be alone with her flowers and her squirels. If she's pathetic enough to..." There. Another bad comment about her. Though he figured he had been thinking nothing but bad things about her. Oh, well. If you were acting like that, you would deserve it. Galford sat there for a while when he heard a voice: "Leaving?" Galford recognised the voice as Nakoruru's. He turned around and saw her standing. Her hands folded in front of herself. She didn't seem very happy. She wore her usual garb. "Shouldn't you be between the trees and ants?" There wasn't anything polite or respectful about Galford's comment. "Are you leaving?" Nakoruru asked again. "No, I'm sitting here for my pleasure. Jeez, what do you think? That I'm like you? No one is like you." It was out before he knew it. Nakoruru stayed calm under it. "Are you angry?" she asked. "Now what would make you think that?" Galford asked mocking. "Nature has told me."  
  
"Sure. The little yellow bunny, right?" Poppy looked up as soon as Galford had spoken these words. He wondered what had gotten into his friend. He was usually so respectful and careful towards Nakoruru. The dog figured the coldness of the Ainu girl had gotten too much for Galford. Nakoruru didn't answer Galford. "No, I'm going back to the States. Where my home is and where the gals are normal." Nakoruru swallowed away some tears, something which Galford couldn't see. "I don't expect you to say good-bye, since I know you don't mean it. Your social skills are a bit behind, aren't they? Oh, but you don't need them. You prefer the cosy animals above your fellow humans." Galford lay down on his back and folded his hands behind his head. "Now go away. I want to catch some sleep before my ship comes. It's been a real pain in the back to know you." Nakoruru remained standing. She swallowed again. "Would you take me and my sister with you?" she asked suddenly, surprising Galford. "Right. And have you spoil my trip? I don't think so. Scram it." he said after a while. This was too much for Nakoruru. She turned around and started to walk away. When she reached the forest, she sat down against a tree and started to cry. She let herself and her tears go. She didn't care if anyone would see her. She wanted to let it all out. She didn't see Mamahaha flying over the tree, heading to Galford. The hawk landed next to Galford and started to flap her wings, disturbing him. "Why, you little..." Galford said, jumping up his feet and trying to grab the hawk. Mamahaha was faster than he was and flew up into the air. "I'll get you. Whatever it takes!" Galford yelled and started to chase Mamahaha, who flew in the direction where Nakoruru sat. As soon as Galford arrived at the spot where Nakoruru was crying, he stopped. "What's up, Nako? Did someone step on some flowers?" he asked sarcasticly. He started to laugh as Nakoruru looked up at him with salty tears on her cheeks. Suddenly, Galford made a strange gorgling sound and collapsed forward on the ground. A strange mist seemed to rise from his head and all of the sudden, Zankurou stood next to the motionless Galford. "Zankurou!" Nakoruru yelled. "Indeed." the demon said. "You had posessed him!" Nakoruru said, scared and happy at the same time. "Not really. I just... lightened his hatred."  
  
"What do you mean?" Nakoruru asked, slowly standing up and reaching for her sword on her back. "You know, deep in his heart, he hates you. He hates you for everything you've done to him. I don't really blame him. You've hurt him so many times by ignoring him." Nakoruru tried to hide her tears. "Well, that's all I wanted to say. I'm off. Have fun in ruining his life." Zankurou said before he started to laugh. When Nakoruru blinked her eyes, the demon was gone, but his laughing echoed through the forest for some time. When it was gone, Galford slowly stood up with a low groan. Poppy, who had witnessed the scene from a distance barked happily. "What happened?" Galford groaned as he felt the back of his head with his hand. When he noticed Nakoruru, he looked at her with a vague expression on his face. "You were possessed by Zankurou." Nakoruru simply said. "I what...?" Galford asked, not able to fully comprehend it all. He noticed the tears on Nakoruru's cheeks. "Have I done anything? Have I hurt you?" he asked worried. Nakoruru shook her head. "Good." he said, smiling. He turned around and started to walk back to the shore. He remembered sitting there and waiting for his boat. Then everything had gotten black. He figured he would be wasting time saying good-bye to Nakoruru. She was sweet, but not really good in good-byes. Nakoruru opened her mouth. She wanted to call him back. To tell him her feelings. To be in love with him, but she knew she couldn't. It was bad that Galford had to suffer like this, but if she would give in to her feelings, if she would let herself go and fall in love, she would loose her ability to talk with Nature. And she would loose her ability to protect it. No, she had to keep him away from her. That would be best. Her own feelings didn't matter, though she felt sorry for Galford. "Good-bye, Galford." she said, just loud enough for the American to hear it. He looked over his shoulder. Nakoruru noticed he was sad, but there wasn't a thing she was supposed to do about it. And that made her even more sad. "Will you... miss me?" Galford asked in a last attempt. Nakoruru turned her back to him. "Go." she said, stabbing Galford and herself through their hearts. "I will miss you." Galford said in another attempt. "Just go, Galford. Don't miss the boat." Nakoruru said, knowing it sounded very inpolite. Galford swallowed an incoming wave of anger. He couldn't be angry with her. She meant too much for him. He started to walk back to the sea, wondering if Nakoruru would someday get someone to love. He just hoped that man would be able to take care for her perfectly. Poppy hung his head as he followed his master. And his friend. 


	6. Memories

Chapter 6: Memories  
  
Link's body shivered from the cold, despite the amount of quilts and blankets under which he lay. He lay with his back to the door to Zelda's room. Zelda was gone for the moment, getting more quilts for him. He praised himself lucky to have ended up being taken care off by her caring hands. If he would have been out there in the fields, alone, he would not have survived it. Despite his illness, he felt great. The lonely feeling was gone, the hungry feeling was gone. He was with Zelda again! He couldn't think of that wonderful phrase enough, of that wonderful name. He heard the door opening and closing. She would come again! With all the strength that remained in his body, he turned around to lie on his back. To be able to see her again. To be able to take in more of her beauty and love she gave him. Zelda put two quilts on the bed, over the other ones. Link smiled at her. It was a hard smile. His poor condition didn't allow much movement. "You're so beautiful..." he murmered. "So beautiful..." Upon hearing that, Zelda smiled and looked at him. Zelda wore a casual outfit. A brown leather tunic and a pair of brown pants. The small, leather shoes weren't really of much protection would she travel. "Your bed?" Link asked with a soft, raspy voice. Zelda nodded. "Feels great." Link continued. "I've never felt anything softer in my life." he said, the words taking a great toll of him. Link was glad that he was able to talk to someone. Zelda was the only person in months to which he had spoken. But she was also the only one who would listen to him. Zelda slept next to her bed on the ground. If she would sleep in one of the guest rooms, her father would find out that there was something going on. If she would have to leave Link for some reason, she made sure Impa or Fox were around. Fox had gotten one of the guestrooms, since everyone believed he was a Lylatan prince. Fox played his roll perfectly. Sometimes he would just toy with nobles around, pretending to be extremely arrogant. He had been staying at Hyrule Castle for a few days, but he had no plans yet of returning home. He would at least see Link getting better, that was for sure. Zelda felt Link's forehead. His temperature had not changed and it worried the young princess. Link was sweating a lot and that was a good sign, but Zelda feared that he wasn't going to get better in some time.  
  
Zelda's fear wasn't truly in place. Link recovered faster than she, or he for that matter, had anticipated. But Zelda wanted to keep Link in bed for a while. No need for rushing things. After a week or so, Link ate his first meal again. Actually, his first real meal in months. In that week, prince Marth had come to the castle and stayed there. He was a Human prince and that was pretty funny, since most Humans had continued to develop their civilization. Some Humans, however, remained to live in small kingdoms ruled by swords and... magic! Those Humans had continued to practice with magic, though the Hylians were still unequelled in ways of power and abilities with the strange power. Zelda hadn't really spoken to Marth. She wasn't really interested in him either. She had seen him a couple of times when he left the castle. He was pretty handsome, she had to agree on that, but for Zelda, Link was at least tenfold as handsome. She wondered where the black-haired young man used to go. Most princes didn't bother to mingle with the local population and there was a strange way Marth behaved. Zelda thought she knew why, but it seemed so strange. But then again, her relationship with Link wasn't common either. She figured Marth was... in love with a simple girl. The way he acted... It wasn't really Zelda's problem. But she thought of it as she watched Marth exit the courtyard as usually from her window. Perhaps she would ask him some day. For now, all that mattered was... She suddenly felt a pair of strong arms wrap around her waist. "Is the view interesting?" Link asked, taking in her scent. "Link." Zelda said softly. "You startled me." she said as Link put his chin on her shoulder and looked at her. "How are you feeling?" Zelda asked. "Great. No headache, sickness or cold. And I owe it all to you." He kissed her neck. "You know how good this feels, Link? It's been so long since we've kissed." Link moved back a little, allowing her to turn around and wrap her arms around his neck. "Too long." she whispered against his lips. "Let's make up for that, shall we?" Link said with about the same whisper as his girlfriend. Both of them felt the same sensation they had experienced with their first kiss when their lips met. But this time, they went further. Zelda was surprised when Link begged entrance to her mouth by darting his tongue against her lips. How could she possibly refuse that? She opened her mouth and the next moment, she felt his tongue all around her mouth. She met his with her own and the two enjoyed their sensual moment of pure passion. There was just no other word for it. The two had been seperated long enough. Now it was indeed time to make up for it all. They both felt great and Zelda wished it would never stop. His soft lips and his dominant tongue. Link had never kissed her like this, but his instincts just guided him. Zelda's young body helped as well, moving closer to him as they deepened their innocent kiss. She liked it and therefore, so did he. When they parted, they kept staring at each other. "I love you, Link."  
  
"I love you too, Zelda." were the only words they wanted and had to say. For their kiss had said a thousend words, if not more. They would have remained standing there for a long time, had the door not opened at that very moment. As a reaction, Zelda and Link just looked at the door. They didn't feel like letting each other go. Not then. Not ever. Much to their relief, it was the familiar shape of Fox stepping into the room. When he saw them, he immediatly stepped back again and closed the door, saying: "Sorry. I'll give you some privacy." The couple could not see the smile on Fox's face. They didn't pay attention to it either. They could only spare attention for each other. "Are you still as good as before?" Link asked, not letting go of Zelda. The young princess looked up at him in shock. What did he mean by that!? Link looked at her with a stupid face before getting it. "Good at fighting I mean." he said with an excusing look. How stupid had he been! He had to be careful with his words. Careful not to remind her of that horrible experience with Ganondorf. Zelda just stared past him. As if she looked straight through his heart. The terrible thing indeed returned to her. The feelings of pain and humiliation. Her trust abused. Would Link abuse her trust like that? Would he just use her for fun and pleasure? She pushed him away from her. She would not survive that. "Zelda, I'm sorry. I didn't mean it like that." Zelda abruptly looked at him, her eyes filled with pain. "Zelda, I would never do a thing like that. I swear!" Link said, noticing fear on her expression as well. Zelda kept staring at him. She was mentally confused because of Ganondorf. The wizard was gone, that was true. But the marks he had left inside her body and her mind were too great to be forgotten. She was terribly affraid that such a thing would happen again. So affraid that she even mistrusted Link. "Zelda..." Link said, caressing the princess' cheek. She shivered as soon as she felt it. "Link..." she muttered. She grabbed his hand and clutched it. "I'm sorry Ganondorf is dead..." Link said, surprising Zelda. "Or else I would have tortured him to death." Zelda hugged Link tightly, saying: "It was so horrible, Link."  
  
"I know, Zelda. But he's gone." Link said, realising that Zelda still wasn't over the shock. He hadn't noticed it during the tournament, but Zelda had indeed sustained some mental damage because of Ganondorf. Link figured that as long as Zelda wasn't remembered of it, she was okay. But now she just lost it. "Now you're safe. Here with me. I would never hurt you. And you know that." Link said softly, trying to calm her down. "Yes..." Zelda said. "I am sorry."  
  
"It's okay, babe." Link said. Zelda smiled at him again. Babe. Link usually called her that, she remembered. It brought back the great memories of the tournament. "Can you still fight?" Link asked, wanting to change the subject as soon as possible. "I've been practicing." Zelda said softly, proud. "That's my girl." Link said with a grin on his face, glad that his princess was over it.  
  
"I'm sorry, princess. But you're not allowed out of the castle." the guard of the front gate of Hyrule Castle said. "I know, but prince Fox of Lylatan is leaving and I thought I'd give him a proper good-bye. What does he have to think about this all?" Zelda replied. She wore her official dress. Next to her stood Fox, dressed in some fancy outfit. It was a Hylian suit, so Zelda hoped the soldier hadn't studied Lylatan history. Behind the two stood two men, dressed in robes and carying big packages. Their faces were hidden by caps. "Yes. So far, this has all been disappointing to say the least. The food is awful and now I'm not even allowed to leave this damp place. That's not good for my fur. You better let us through, soldier. Or else my father will be furious. And I'm not leaving without a proper good- bye." Fox said, looking as arrogant as possible. "But, still..."  
  
"What!? How dare you refuse me, Foxarian the Great, Prince of Lylatan? What is your name, soldier?"  
  
"T... Trenan." the soldier said, impressed by Fox's loud voice. "Okay, Trenan. You either let us through or I'll have my father personally come to visit you, is that understood? He can be very pissed when he finds out you obstructed his dear son and death will be a relief in his eyes." The soldier swallowed. "Okay... You m... may pass. But don't tell anything to your father, your Highness." he said. "I shall be merciful this time, my good man." Fox said as the group of four people walked away from the castle. When they were in town and out of sight, one of the men who carried the packages started to chuckle. "Foxarian the Great, my ass!" he said laughing as he put down the package and pulled back the cap. It was Link. The other one removed his cap as well and it became clear that it wasn't a he but a she. It was Impa. "Hey, the fool took it!" Fox said laughing. Zelda smiled as she looked around. Her father had kept her inside the castle ever since the tournament. "Free..." she murmered. "Finally free!"  
  
"Yes. Finally." Link whispered in her ear as he wrapped his arms around her waist from behind. "There's one little problem, lovebirds." Fox said. "Where are we supposed to live and how are we supposed to get money?" Link let go of Zelda and looked at his best friend. "We?"  
  
"Yeah. I'll stick with you guys until things are a bit normal. I bet you could use some help." Fox said, barely changing facial expressions. Link nodded. "Perhaps we could make some sort of treehouse in the forest. The chances of discovery are small." Impa said. She had taken an oath long ago. An oath that would bind her to the Princess forever. She was bound to protect and serve the maiden forever, following her protegee everywhere she went. Much to her relief, she did that now. "Good idea, Impa." Link said. And about this money..." he continued. "I've got a feeling the four of us can tackle problems fairly well..." 


	7. Marth's secret

Chapter 7: Marth's secret  
  
And thus the three Hylians and the Lylatan went to build their new home and build a new future for Link, Zelda, and therefore, Impa. Impa appeared to be pretty skillful with wood. And Fox and Link, combined with Zelda's magic, were able to put down a pretty good house to live in. It had indeed gotten to be a wooden treehouse, nestled in a huge tree. Zelda had to adept a lot to her new environment, but she managed and soon, she was hunting bounty rewards together with Link. Fox had no experience with 'ancient' weapons and decided to use his wits and cunning at the marketplace, trying to evade the soldiers who thought he was a prince. While in the town, Fox noticed papers hanging on the buildings notifying that a reward would be given to the one who had information about the whereabouts of Princess Zelda. Most people didn't bother to search. They knew their princess had been grounded and were happy that she had escaped. Zelda was loved among the people of Hyrule and they sure wouldn't turn her in. The only problem were the bounty hunters and bandits who were all too keen to capture the princess. Fox used his cleverness in selling and buying stuff in towns all over Hyrule. The good thing was that Hyrule wasn't so big, so he travelled to the Gerudo Fortress, Kakariko Village, Castle Town, Kokiri Forest, Goron City and Zora Hall to earn money. He was pretty good at it all too. One day, Zelda decided to visit her best friend Malon. Against all protests of Link, she changed into her Sheikah suit and went to the ranch. Instead of using the regular entrance, she used a whip to climb up the roof of one of the buildings. Zelda had been practicing using the whip for some time. She saw it as a handy rope and she was quite skillful with it too. Had she used the regular entrance, she would have seen the rough men with shining metal in their hands. The men had seen her, though and waited patiently for their prey to enter one of the houses. When Zelda sat on top of one of the wooden buildings, she saw Malon at work at the stables. She was taking care of one of the horses. A beautiful red-brown horse with white manes. Zelda skillfully jumped from roof to roof, using her whip whenever necessary. When she reached the roof of the stables, she let herself slide down softly, bending deeply through her knees when she hit the ground not to make any sound. Malon had not noticed her. The red-haired ranchgirl was too busy with her favorite horse. Zelda pulled off her mask by pulling the lower part, which covered her nose and mouth, down and by pulling the upper part, which held her hair together, up. She released her long, blonde hair by shaking her head. "Hi, Malon." Zelda said casual. Malon startled and swiftly turned around, only to cast a huge smile upon seeing her best friend alive and well. "Zelda!" she said surprised. "Goddesses, it's been such a long time." she said as the two hugged each other. "It indeed has." Zelda said laughing. "I heard your father has put a price on your head. Are you alright?" Malon asked worried. "I'm fine. Remember that stud from the tournament?"  
  
"You mean Link?" Zelda nodded. "I now live with him in a treehouse somewhere in the forest. It's a real shame we share it with two other people." Zelda said with a smirk. Malon smiled. "Is it true that your father doesn't allow you see him?" Zelda nodded. "How romantic!" Malon said enthusiastic. "A forbidden romance..." she sighed. Zelda chuckled a bit. Malon had always been a bit of a dreamer. Even more than Zelda herself. "Talking about romances..." Malon started, drawing Zelda's curiosity. "Yes?" the princess asked with a low voice. "I... ehm..." Malon said as she started to blush a little. "I've got a boyfriend..."  
  
"You have? That's great! What's his name? Is he cute? Sweet? Is he rich?" Zelda asked enthusiasticly. "It's a prince..." Malon murmered just loud enough for Zelda to hear it. "A prince?" Zelda said, her mind figuring something out. "Yes. His name is Marth." Marth! So that's what been going on. Zelda's instincts had been right! He was indeed in love. And with Zelda's best friend! Outside of the stables, half a dozen of men gathered, armed with a variety of weapons. They planned to capture Zelda and claim the reward. They had seen her going into the stables and surrounded the entrance to the wooden building. "He's really sweet." Malon said, smiling. "I don't doubt it. The odds were high I would get married to him. An arranged marriage." Zelda said. "An arranged marriage!? What is this? The Dark Ages?" Malon said indignant. Zelda shrugged her shoulders. "Fortunately that didn't happen. I'm really happy for you, Malon." Zelda said. "Thanks, Zel." Malon replied. "I think I'll be going or else Link'll get worried. Give my regards to Marth." Zelda said before she hugged Malon a second time. "I will." Malon said. Zelda exited the stables, followed by Malon. As soon as Zelda stood a couple of meters from the stables, the bounty hunters swiftly surrounded her. This took the two girls completely by surprise. "Good day, princess." one of the men said. "We're coming to take you home. Don't force us to be violent. It's nothing personal."  
  
"Great." Zelda said through gritted teeth. "I suppose you all have a death wish." The men started to laugh. "Funny, little princess. You shall come with us. Even if we have to use force." one of them said. Zelda walked to the wall and leaned against it. She moved one hand through her hair, holding one arm behind her back. "I don't suppose I could give you some kind of other reward? A few moments of pleasure perhaps?" It took Zelda a lot of effort to stay calm, but she had to do this or else she would lose her freedom. Malon figured Zelda wasn't going to do anything like that, but the ranchgirl wasn't really sure. "Well..." one of the men said, walking to Zelda. The princess moved both her arms behind her back and gave the man her most seductive smile. "It will... benefit us both..." Zelda said with a voice barely hers. "I say we take her right here." another man said. "Yeah." the man who stood in front of Zelda said. "I go first." Zelda swallowed. What had she done? If she wasn't able to fight her way out of this, it would surely happen! The man stepped close to Zelda and started to kiss her. What!? No one was allowed to do that to her! No one, except Link. Only the person to whom she had given her heart. And that was most certainly not that filthy man who was kissing her at that moment. "Pig!" Zelda said, moments before she hit him between the legs with her knee. The man groaned and collapsed on the ground, which was a signal for the other man that the party wasn't going to get started. "I want that bitch alive!" one of the men yelled. With a two-handed sword drawn, he walked to Zelda and said: "I think I'm going to torture you a little before I hand you over to your sweet daddy. I like a screaming woman."  
  
"You have to get me first, dickhead." Zelda said, revealing three knives in the hand which she had been holding behind her back all the time. She made an elegant turn with her body and threw the knives straight in the man's chest, making him fall down. In a rage, the man who was now closest to her charged her. He slashed his sword in her direction, but Zelda caught the blade with two hands at the flat part. "Nice try." Zelda said, in one spinning move kicking against the blade with her one foot and kicking the man in his face with the other. She landed on her back as the man's body turned around and fell down on his stomach. Zelda kicked her legs in the air and swiftly put them on the ground again, forcing her body to follow the movement and making herself standing up again with her knees bent. She stood up straight and awaited the last two men. Little did she know there were three of them. The last one appeared from behind the princess and grabbed her at her arms, turning them around. "I've got her." he said. The two other men came closer. One of them grabbed Zelda's chin. "What a shame we have to bring you back to your daddy. I would have loved to keep you as my little pet." He ran his thumb across her lips, but Zelda opened her mouth and bit it. With a scream, the man removed his hand and slapped Zelda hard in her face. "You little witch." he said, looking at his sour thumb. It wasn't bleeding, though. Zelda hadn't gotten the time to make it bleed. "Step away from her now!" Malon ordered. Unnoticed, she had gotten a hayfork from the stables and was pointing it in the direction of the men who were holding Zelda. Her shaking hands revealed that she was scared and it didn't go unnoticed by the three men. The one who had slapped Zelda walked towards the ranchgirl. "You know what we do to defenseless little girls like you?" he said threatening. "Stand back!" Malon ordered, walking backwards herself. The man grabbed the hayfork and pulled it out of Malon's hands. "We rape them before we cut them open!" he said, grabbing Malon's arm roughly. Suddenly, the nighing of a horse could be heard. Zelda saw a white horse running towards the scene at full speed. It carried a figure she knew far too well. Marth. He was followed by his cape which was flying behind him. He had his sword in his hand and made a motion to dismount his riding horse. Instead of dropping himself on the ground, he held himself tightly to the horse's side with his free arm. Zelda was amazed by the horseriding skills of Marth. He just held his sword in one hand and managed to hold on to side of the horse while it was at full speed. The horse ran in a straight line, straight to the group of men. The one who was holding Malon turned around, but too late. Marth's horse raced past him and with a swift strike, Marth cut the man's head off. Marth let go of the horse and it walked further, being an obstacle for the last two men. Marth rolled over the ground and stood up, a few meters away from Malon. The ranchgirl walked to Marth and he wrapped his arm around her, not taking his eyes of the last two men. He was panting and Malon swallowed as she closed her eyes. It barely reached her mind that she was safe. She was still thinking what would have happened would Marth not have shown up. "Better let her go, fella's." Marth said pointing his sword at the men. "You really expect us to let go of such a reward? It has gotten even more for just two of us to share." the man who held Zelda said, not really caring for his fallen comrades. "I see." Marth said. "It's been a while since I have seen such scum as you. Three days perhaps?" Marth said, not letting go of Malon. "But the thing is..." he said, twirling his sword between his fingers. "You don't stand a chance." He slashed his sword down and a needle of ice shot from it, towards the man who held Zelda. The object struck him in his neck. It didn't go really deep, but, as the man reached for it to pull it out, he noticed that his body started to freeze over. He was forced to let Zelda go and she made use of it. She kicked the second man in his stomach and, as he bent forward, groaning, she used the same leg to kick down onto his head, striking him down on the ground and knocking him unconscious. She hit the surprised man who had been holding her with her elbow in his face, knocking him to the ground. The man wanted to stand up with his half-frozen body, but Zelda revealed a knife from her belt. "I've kept this one specially for you." she said, grabbing the knife at it's blade and positioning her arm to throw. "No, Zelda! Don't!" Malon yelled. The ranchgirl ran to her friend. "Don't." she repeated. Zelda looked at Malon, then at the man and then at Malon again. She closed her eyes, looked down and sighed. She put the knife back where it once had been. "You're right, Malon. I don't know what had gotten into me." She turned to the man. "Get out of here." she ordered. The man quickly stood up and removed the small icicle. Immediatly, the effects of the object were weakening and he was able to run. And running he did. Zelda and Malon walked to Marth. "Hello, Marth." was Zelda's simple comment. She was affraid Marth had come to take her back to the castle. "Hello, Zelda. Shouldn't you be with that blond-haired peasant of yours?" Marth said with a grin. Zelda looked at Marth with a questioning look in her eyes. "I'm not stupid, Zelda. I know about your little relationship with him." Marth said, answering the unasked question. "You're not going to take me back to the castle?" Zelda asked, still not trusting the Human prince. Marth shook his head. "Why should I? I know what it is to be in love. Now go. I want some time alone with my girl." Zelda smiled. She turned to Malon and said: "I'll keep in touch." Malon nodded. Zelda put on her mask again and used her whip to climb up on one of the wooden buildings. She waved one more time before she jumped off of it on the other side, leaving the ranch at the same time. "A strange girl..." Marth muttered as his view remained fixed at the empty spot on the roof. He turned to Malon. "Why did you come, Marth?" Malon asked as if nothing had happened. "I had a little present for you and I wanted to give it to you." Marth answered. "A gift?" Malon asked curious. "Yeah. You'll see."  
  
"You know how curious I can get?" Malon said, crossing her arms. "Yeah, I know." Marth said with a chuckle, walking to his horse. "Tell me, what is it?" Malon asked, following him. "I'm not saying." Marth said, who started to run, knowing his girlfriend far too well. "Oh, you!" Malon said as she started to chase Marth around the ranch. 


	8. Evil lends a helping hand

Chapter 8: Evil lends a helping hand  
  
"You're making a mistake! I haven't done anything!" Terry protested as he was forced into a cel by two policemen. "Yeah, yeah. That's what they always say." one of the policemen said as he closed the metal bar-filled door. It closed with a metal sound which echoed through the entire police- station. "What do we have today?" another officer, who came walking in Terry's view, asked. "Tried to rob the bank and shot his fellow robbers in an argument."  
  
"That's bullshit!" Terry yelled, grabbing the bars of his cel. "We have witnesses!" the officer who had explained it all said. "They're lying!" Terry replied. "Everyone lies? The bank-employees, the customers, the president of the bank?"  
  
"I don't know what's going on here, but I didn't do anything. I prevented the robbery!"  
  
"Good for you." the officer said as the three walked away from the cel. "Damn you!" Terry yelled. "Relax, handsome boy." a female voice sounded through the cel. Terry looked in the direction of the voice. He saw a girl lying on the hard bench. She held her hands under her head. She had blonde hair which encircled her head and ended at chin-length. She wore a red top and blue trousers with a belt which was too large to be of practical use and which hung obligue at her hips. She wore strong, heavy, brown boots and dark-blue, fingerless cloves made from a more flexible material than Terry's. She looked strengthened by some hard life, but at the same time she was a pretty sight to look at. She sat up straight. "Law isn't fair, you know." She sticked out her hand. "I'm Mary." Terry shook it and said: "Terry. What are you here for?" Mary shrugged her shoulders. "A few men harressed me. I beat them up. That's not allowed in this country."  
  
"You... beat them up?"  
  
"Yes, but a patrolling policecar saw it and I got arrested. I could have fought my way out of it, but I'm no criminal. I won't be here for long."  
  
"Terry Bogard?" Terry turned around to the officer who had called his name. "Yes?"  
  
"You have one phone-call. Use it wisely." the man said as he opened the cel. Terry followed the officer who let him to a poor phone on the wall. It matched the police-station perfectly. Terry took up the phone. He could call Kyo, but he had a better idea. Suddenly, his mind could only think of one person to call. His brother Andy. Andy Bogard was the only family Terry had. The two were loyal to each other as they were to no one else. Their father had teached them the art of fighting, but he got murdered in a fight in the Fatal Fury tournament. That tournament, just as the King of Fighters tournament was prohibited. It had gone wrong one day. The opponent of Terry's father was merciless. He was known to beat opponents to death, but Terry's father wouldn't back out. It had become his last mistake. Terry would never forget how his bleeding father had looked at him. It had made such a deep cut in his young soul. After that, Terry's uncle had taken in the two boys, but Terry had left him soon. He wanted to forget everything that had happened and he became a tramp in New York. Terry got visited by Andy, who brought him food and asked him to come back, but Terry had never given in. Andy got lessons in the art of fighting from his uncle, while Terry practiced on his own. His style of fighting was filled with hatred for this one man who had murdered his father in front of his eyes. A tall, tanned man with white hair known only as K. Terry had always hoped to find K and kill him. Andy had lost his sense of hatred, because his uncle had insited that he would. Andy had been raised with love and care, while Terry had to fight to survive. He had met Kyo once who had invited Terry into his house. Kyo was a good young man, Terry sometimes wished that he could have Kyo's forgiving character. Despite their differences, Terry and Andy shared an intense brotherly love for each other. Andy had moved away from his uncle not too long ago. He had met a girl named Mai, who had a Chinese father and an American mother. Mai Shiranui was a bit... hot as Andy referred to her when he had drunk too much. The two loved each other very much, but Terry hoped that their relationship would remain lasting forever. The calm, sometimes shy guy Andy in comparison with the wild Mai... Terry figured it wouldn't last long, but surprisingly, it did. He turned the dialing wheel of the old telephone and waited as he heard the device on the other line going over.  
  
"With Mai." Mai said, panting and sweating on the phone. "Jesus, what have you two been doing!?" was the first response she heard. "Terry!" Mai said, recognising the voice. "Yeah, it's me. Had a good time or what?" the voice sounded, none too enthusiastic. But then again, Terry never was. "No, we were just training." Mai replied, looking at Andy, who came walking in the room. Andy Bogard had long, blond hair, just as his brother, though Andy let it freely hang. He was of average length, shorter than his older brother, and he was still wearing his white training-suit and red gloves. Mai Shiranui had long, brown hair in a ponytail. She also wore her training- suit, though it was a bit different than Andy's. It revealed her legs, arms and part of her brests. And brests she had. Even Terry was impressed. Mai was never reluctant to let other people know, though Andy wasn't fond of that and Mai knew it. She teased him by putting on clothes which allowed them to 'bounce' freely. "Yes, Andy just walks in. Here he comes." she said before she handed the receiver to Andy. "It's your big brother." Mai said before she stood up from the couch. Andy said down and said: "Hey, bro'! It's been a while." in the telephone. "Yeah, I know. Hey, I've got a bit of a problem." Terry said as Mai walked to the exit of the room which led to the bathroom of the small house. "What's up?" Andy said, looking at Mai's legs. "I'm busted."  
  
"What!?" Andy said, sitting up straight. "What did you do this time?"  
  
"I didn't do a thing, but the cops won't believe me. They think I robbed a bank!"  
  
"A bank? The KOF tournament doesn't pay well enough for you?"  
  
"No time for jokes, Andy I'm in some serious shit here! I would call Kyo, but he's probably bumping his girlfriend right now."  
  
"Kyo?"  
  
"Jeez, my time is up. Get to the police station which is closest to my house. I see you." Terry said, before the connection got broken. Andy put the receiver back in it's place. "What's up, Andy?" Mai asked as she noticed the concerned look on Andy's face. "Terry has gotten himself into trouble again." Andy said, looking at her.  
  
Terry walked up and down in his cel, poundering how he would get out of this. "Would you cut that out? You're making me nervous." said a still lying Mary. She sat up straight. "If you think you can be out in a jiffy you're wrong. In this country, your guilty until proven innocent. And that might take some time. You could buy the judge, of course. But I think buying the members of the jury is cheaper. Mostly cheaper than a lawyer." Mary stared in front of her. "No wonder miss Justice is blind. She wouldn't want to see all of this."  
  
"I know our justice system sucks, Mary. It's like everything else in life. Tough luck." Terry said, looking around the small police-station. He noticed the door opening and a man stepped in. Terry immediatly grabbed the bars of his cel. "That's the motherfucker who robbed the bank!" he yelled. It was indeed the rough face of Ganondorf showing up. "Arrest him! He's the guy you want!"  
  
"Shut up!" one of the officers yelled. He was sitting on a chair. Mary stood up and walked next to Terry. "Nice move. Blaming someone else. Very smart." she said calm as she watched Ganondorf walk to the officer behind the counter. His heavy boots pounded through the poor building. "He really is the bad guy." Terry said. "Can I be of help?" the officer behind the counter asked Ganondorf. "You can die for me, if it isn't too much trouble." Ganondorf said with his low voice. The officer looked at Ganondorf confused. "Listen, citizen. I can lock you up for insulting a policeman. State your business or leave." the officer who was sitting on the chair said as he started to read a newspaper. "Oh, yes. Silly me." Ganondorf said as he looked at the reading man. "My business." He turned to the man at the desk and said: "My business is to kill you." Before the officer could react, Ganondorf grabbed him at his neck and lifted him up in the air. With a strong move with his hand, he squeezed the man's neck untill it broke like a dry cane of wood. The officer who had been reading quickly stood up, still a bit surprised, and reached for his gun. Ganondorf quickly pointed his hand at the man and a wall of fire shot from it, engulfing the officer. The third man just came in the room. "What the..." he yelled. Ganondorf looked at him and cast his evil grin. Terry backed away from the bars. "What the hell is that guy!?" Ganondorf dropped the dead officer on the ground and started to walk to the surprised policeman in front of him. The man drew his gun and started to fire at Ganondorf. Ganondorf started to laugh as the bullets hit him and bounced off of his armor. He didn't seem to feel a thing. When he was close enough to the man, he punched him hard in his face, striking the man's head off in a powerfull blow. The decapitated body collapsed on the ground and Ganondorf walked to the cel in which Terry and Mary were. He grabbed the bars and pulled them away from each other as if they were made from jelly instead of iron. He stepped into the cel and looked at Terry. "You're free, kid." he said. "You killed those policemen!" Terry said. "So what? You killed my men. What's the difference? They were all inferiour." He grabbed Terry at his collar and lifted him up, bringing his face close to his own. "Go find princess Zelda in Hyrule. Tell her Ganondorf is still alive and that he's going to finish what he has started. I'm sure she'll love to hear it."  
  
"And why would I want to do that?" Terry said challenging, not minding the position he was in. "It'll keep you alive. At least for now." He dropped Terry on the floor and started to walk away. "I'll get you for this, ugly!" Terry said angry. Ganondorf turned his head around over his shoulder. "Your time will come. You will die amongst the others."  
  
"Die amongst the others?" Terry asked, but Ganondorf walked away again and disappeared in the thick smoke created by the fire in the small, devastated police-station. 


	9. Warnings

Chapter 9: Warnings  
  
Galford walked towards the small ferry that would take him to China. Away from the island called Japan. Away from Nakoruru. He sighed. He found it a decision difficult to make. Once he would leave, he would not come back. It was better this way. "Come, poppy." he said to his friend. The dog followed him, though he was sad. His ears lay flat on his hanging head and he almost dragged his fluffy tail over the ground. When he was about to enter the ferry, he heard his name. "Galford! Don't go!" He turned around and saw Nakoruru's little sister running at him, her ice-crystal followed her obediently. "Don't leave us." Rimururu said panting as soon as she reached Galford. "Rimu, I don't want to be a problem for your sister. I'm only an obstacle for her and it is best if I leave."  
  
"Come on, Galford. Don't be such a child!" Rimururu said. The differences between her and her older sister were pretty obvious. "Nakoruru likes you very much, Galford. She won't survive your departure."  
  
"That's bullcrap, Rimu." Galford said, sounding angry. "And if you like her so much, then why do you leave?" Rimururu continued. "Because it's best for her."  
  
"I thought you wanted to protect her?"  
  
"There's no need to protect her from something which is already defeated."  
  
"Is that so? There are more dangers than Zankurou, you know? Protecting nature is a difficult task, Galford. One which Nakoruru can't manage on her own."  
  
"She has you, Rimu."  
  
"Yes, she has me. But how many friends and allies has Nakoruru got besides you and me?"  
  
"Well..."  
  
"I respect my sister. She's great with the sword, but she can be impossible at times. Please, Galford. Stay with us. Help my sister perform her duty."  
  
"I'm sorry, Rimu. But I've got feelings as well and Nako can take care of herself."  
  
"If it wasn't for you, she would've been killed by Zankurou."  
  
"I didn't do a thing, Rimu. He just disappeared before I could even hit him." Rimururu grabbed Galford's arm. "Come, Galford. Please stay." Poppy barked. He wanted to stay as well. Nakoruru was good with animals and so with Poppy. "But she's driving me nuts!" Galford suddenly yelled. "So what?" Rimururu said. "You're a ninja for crying out loud! You're supposed to be able to take harsh conditions as you perform your duties. And now your duty is to protect my sister!" The harsh tone of the fourteen-year-old surprised Galford. "Galford." Rimururu said, calming down. "My sister is in danger. I had dreams about it the last couple of days. If she isn't protected, she will surely die."  
  
"You want me to stay because of a couple of dreams you had?"  
  
"I just have this horrible feeling that something bad will happen to her." The two were silent for a moment. "Okay." Galford suddenly spoke. "I'll stick around for a few more days."  
  
"You will? That's great!" Rimururu said, after which she hugged Galford tightly. "I just know that you'll save my sister's life!"  
  
That night, something strange happened. Something which could be explained as an omen. A very dark omen. One which would predict death, destruction, chaos, hatred and, above all, war. A furious, terrible war. Galford was looking at Nakoruru, who slept peacefully in her bed. He studied her from the entrance to her room. Nakoruru was wearing her nightgown and slept with her face towards Galford. The American was tired, but if Rimururu was right, there would be no time for sleep. He walked into her room and sat on the chair which stood next to her bed, placing the sheath of his sword next to him. He stared at the sleeping girl in front of him. Darn. The fascination he held for her... His hand reached out to touch her cheek, but he pulled back at the last moment. He leaned back in his uncomfortable chair and looked out of the window at the stars above. He heard the nightlife of the forest. A wolf howled to the full moon. The light of the moon cast strange shadows over the forest, making it look alive. Galford shivered. It was cold, but that wasn't the cause. The forest was giving him the creeps. "Darn." he said. "And I'm supposed to be a fearless ninja?" He looked back at Nakoruru, but notice that her silent slumber had changed. She was twisting and turning in her bed and her eyes moved rapidly behind her eyelids. She was having a nightmare. A pretty bad one. Galford stood up and grabbed her shoulder, trying to wake her up. "Hey, Nako." he said. It was of no use. She didn't wake up. "No... Get away..." she murmered. "Nako!" Galford said, a little louder this time. He grabbed both her shoulders and desperately tried to wake her up. It still didn't wake her up. "What the hell is going on here? Nako!" Nakoruru started to make even wilder movements and her voice got louder. "No!" she suddenly yelled and she shot forward, her eyes wide open, drenched in sweat, but awake. She was shaking terribly. When she saw Galford, she just clung on to him. "Oh, Galford." she said with a shaking voice. "It was horrible." she said, her eyes shut tightly. Galford carefully hugged Nakoruru. He could feel her shaking. This wasn't normal.  
  
Zelda wondered where she was as she stood on the top of some sort of mountain upon which she could oversee a barren wasteland. The ground was dark and warm. Geysers brought in a strange fog and the skies were shrouded with dark clouds. There was some wind which blew her hair around, making some strands stick to her face. "Where am I?" the blonde Hylian asked herself. Her voice echoed through the desolate valley. She felt something at her leg. When she looked down, she saw a small cat looking at her with begging eyes. "Hi there, little fellow." Zelda said as she picked the cat up and caressed his head. "Do you know where we are?" A strange question to ask a cat. Much to Zelda's surprise, the cat answered with a soft, purring voice. "Thou art in danger, Zelda. Everyone is in danger. The apocalypse is nigh."  
  
"W... what?" Zelda said, surprised over the fact that the cat was talking and that he was saying this. "The apocalyps is nigh and thou shalt make a stance. Gather many friends, for thou shalt need them. Thou shalt encounter a group of worthy allies, leaded by a man with golden hair and the heart of a dragon and a man with brown hair and a heart of fire. Thou shalt also encounter a warrior with a noble spirit and a sharp blade and a priestess with hair as black as the night, but with heart as white as snow. Helped them wherever thou can, since they shalt help thy. Remembered, the apocalyps comes." The cat kept repeating the last sentence as everything around Zelda faded away, including the cat at the end. Everything turned black and when Zelda opened her eyes, she lay in her bed in the tree-house, looking at a surprised Link. "Apocalypse?" was the first thing he said.  
  
Terry stood in an abandoned graveyard. Mists made the dark place even more colourful and the trees looked as if they hadn't had any water in the last hundred years. It was dark, though Terry couldn't see whether it was night or not. He saw a couple of bat racing past his head and he heard a wolf howl. "Creepy place." Terry murmered. He started to walk around for the lack of better things to do. Then he saw a man standing at a grave. It was a tall, muscled man with short, dark-blond hair and casual clothes. Terry could barely believe his eyes when he saw the man, who turned around to him. A smile appeared on his weary face as soon as he saw Terry. "Son!" he said with a low, raspy voice. It was Jeff Bogard, Terry's father. "Dad!" Terry said, recognising the man as he started to run to him. They hugged each other shortly than backed away. "I can't believe it's you! I thought you were dead." Terry said enthusiastic to his old man. "Alas, Terry. I am." Jeff said. "I got permission to visit you in your dream." Terry's expression revealed disappointment. "A dream..." he murmered. "Dad..." he said, looking at his father. "Before we go on, I want to know something." Terry spoke in a calm voice. "What the hell is going on here?" he asked with the same calm voice. "I think I'm losing my mind. There's this crazy guy who robbed a bank and..."  
  
"I know, Terry. I know." Jeff said, interrupting his son. "It's all part of a big scheme. My assasination was also part of it and even time is being disturbed."  
  
"What!? But why?"  
  
"It's all part of an apocalyptic battle and you were chosen before you were even born to fight in it."  
  
"Me? But, dad. I can't..."  
  
"Son, when I look at you I see twice the man I had ever been. Life has strengthened you. You had to fight to survive. And you may be our only hope."  
  
"Dad, this is all vague, but if you say so... What do I need to do?" Terry asked his father with a confident look in his eyes. His father had never lied to him or treated him badly. And this was a strange dream. It almost felt real. And if that wasn't enough to convince him that there was something going on, than Ganondorf most certainly did. Jeff smiled. "Okay, Terry. You need to see Princess Zelda of Hyrule. She..."  
  
"Zelda? This guy who robbed the bank told me to see her as well!"  
  
"Ganondorf." Jeff murmered. "That man is torn by hatred for the Princess. Beware of him. He is strong and also part of the scheme."  
  
"I had the idea." Terry answered. "You've got to take Mary with you. She is one of the Chosen Ones as well, though it was not fate which brought you together." Jeff's face turned darker. "Son, take good care of Mary. Don't let her come to harm."  
  
"I won't, dad. You can count on me."  
  
"Also, Andy and Kyo will join you. Look after your younger brother. He isn't as strong as you are."  
  
"I will, dad. Don't worry." Terry answered softly. Jeff put a hand on Terry's shoulder. "I'm proud of you, son. Go see Princess Zelda and her boyfriend and all will be answered in time. Join them where ever they go." Jeff turned around and started to walk away, leaving Terry behind. "Oh, one last thing." Jeff said, turning around again. "Beware of Athena. She is not to be trusted. And good luck, son. It's all I can give you." Terry saluted his father with a simple gesture of the hand before Jeff started to walk away again and everything turned black. When Terry opened his eyes, he noticed himself lying on an old matrass in a poor room in New York. It was Mary's room. He noticed her sitting next to him, wearing her cheap pajamas. "Goodmorning, handsome." she said after Terry sat up straight. "You were talking in your sleep." she said. Terry looked at her. "I saw my father." he murmered. He stood up. And quickly put on his jeans which had been lying on the floor. With the same speed he grabbed his white t-shirt and put it on, as well as his shoes, jacket and cap. "Quickly, get dressed. There's not a moment to lose." he said. "Wait a second!" Mary said. "Terry, what's going on here? Yesterday we met your brother and you insisted on sleeping at my place and now you're rushing into something and you actually want me to follow you?"  
  
"Yes." Terry said, having no explanation for the fact that he had wanted to sleep at Mary's place. This all had to do something with this dream he had that night. Terry had met Andy when he had exited the prison. He had told his younger brother to go home, but why? His mind was so foggy, it was as if he had been drunk. And that had not been the case. Something had controlled him. Something had made him tell his brother to go home. Something had made him spend the night at Mary's. And for what purpose? Terry wanted answers. And he knew he could find them in Hyrule. "Mary, trust me. We've got to go to Hyrule."  
  
"Hyrule!? That's not exactly around the corner!"  
  
"I know, but it is imperative that we go there. There's something big coming and it's in Hyrule. My dad told me to..."  
  
"You're doing all this because of a dream?"  
  
"It wasn't a dream. It was too real. Mary, come with me or you'll die."  
  
"Is that a threat?" Mary asked, backing away a little. "No, my dad asked me to protect you. And I gave him my word I would. And besides, what have you got to lose?" Mary looked around the room. A room which wasn't even hers. There was nothing of value. She had never had anything of real value. Perhaps traveling with Terry was the way to get out of her blasted life. And she had to admit it, Terry was kind of cute... "Okay." she said as soon as she turned back to Terry. "I've got nothing to leave behind. No family, friends, nothing. I'm coming with you." Mary Ryan's life had been peaceful. She had been living with her parents until the age of twelve. Then, one of the local gang-bosses, a sinister man by the name of Geese Howard, captivated Mary. She never got to see her parents again. The years of imprisonment were hell for the young Mary, but she survived and knew to escape. Up till now, she had been alone, but capable of handling herself. She walked to her clothes which lay at the end of her humble bed. She picked them up and looked at Terry, who stood impatiently with one hand in his side and the other one against the wall of the room, waiting for Mary to finish. "Would you mind?" she asked with a clear irritation in her voice. "Oh, yeah. Sorry." Terry excused before leaving Mary's room and closing the door behind him. 


	10. The joining of forces

Chapter 10: The joining of forces  
  
"Well, I say if the dream was a prediction, you'll find out soon enough." Fox said matter-of-fact as he stood up from the primitive chair which stood in front of a primitive table around which Impa, Zelda, Link and Fox had shared breakfast. It was days after Zelda had told her friends about the dream she had with the cat, but they were still arguing about it. "That's right, your Majesty. It could be just a dream." Impa said humbly. "Yes. Could be." Zelda muttered in thought, resting her head on her hands and staring in front of her. Link stood up and put his hands on Zelda's shoulders. "Come on, babe. Get your mind off it. Dreams don't have to be something prophetic. And besides, what would a cat know about the end of the world?" Zelda grabbed Link's hand and clutched it. "You're probably right, guys. But still, it all seemed so real. Oh well. I guess we find out soon enough."  
  
"What you need is a nice long walk through the Lost Woods." Link said. "That sounds nice." Zelda replied softly. "Wait a second!" Fox said. "Who's going to do the dishes?"  
  
"Oh, Fox." Link said, giving Fox an indignant look. "How can you ask that of that poor Zelda? No, she's going to take a walk right now." Zelda stood up. "But..." Fox started his protest. "Sometimes you really have no heart, Fox. She's upset. There's no way she's in a state to do the dishes. I suggest you do it, Fox. That's what friends are for." Link said as he guided Zelda out of the tree-house and down the ladder. "But it's..." Fox tried as he remained standing above the ladder. "Fox, I'm disappointed in you. It's a small trouble to do for your friends." Link yelled as he took Zelda's hand and started to run away into the Lost Woods. "Will you do the dishes, Fox?" Fox said with a high voice filled with intollarence as he walked back into the tree-house. "It was HIS turn!" he said to an almost laughing Impa. "I'll get him when he gets back. You can count on that. He can run but he can't hide." Fox grumbled as he started to collect the dishes from the table. Impa decided to help the poor Lylatan. To help him lift his pain. To help him out of his misery. To help him do the dishes.  
  
Link and Zelda walked hand-in-hand through the mystical Lost Woods. The place was so magical, that tiny balls of pure magic danced about the air, making the open forest look even prettier. Zelda sighed. "It's so beautiful here. I haven't been here in such a long time that I had almost forgotten the beauty of it all."  
  
"Same goes here." Link said, noticing a few wild cats playing with each other. He wondered. A cat also warned Zelda in her dream. Heck, he had taken Zelda to this place to forget about her dream and now he was the one thinking about it. Zelda noticed the two brown animals as well and let go of Link's hand to walk to them. "Be careful. You don't know how cats in the wild can be." Link warned. Zelda didn't look at her boyfriend, but continued to walk to the cats. "I love all cats, Link. Whether they're big or small, wild or tame, I don't care." Link had never known, but Zelda was a real cat-lover. It was a shame her father was allergic to them or else she would have taken a bunch of them into the castle. But now she would be able to take one. She just hoped Link wouldn't mind. These two cats looked so cute. They were still kittens. Zelda was good with cats, but these were wild. She wondered if she would be able to caress one. She would not capture these and take them home. They belonged in the wilds. She would buy herself a cat at the market one day. Though it would be dangerous with all the soldiers around. Zelda sticked out a hand towards the cats as she bent through her knees. "Hey." she spoke with a soft, sweet voice not to startle the unsuspecting animals. As soon as the cats noticed her, they got up on their feet and ran away as quickly as possible, leaving a disappointed Zelda behind. "Rats." she said. "I told you. Wild cats aren't the same as tame ones." Link said. Zelda stood up and turned around to him. "No, you're right." Link walked to her and wrapped and arm around her shoulders. "Come, princess. I know a nice spot to sit down a little."  
  
"Well, guide the way, my prince." Zelda said with a lovely voice. Prince. She had never said that to him before. "Am I a... prince to you?" Link asked careful and even a bit shy. "Yes." Zelda answered. "A noble, gentle, sweet, handsome prince." She slowly caressed his cheek before she kissed him on the lips. "My princess..." Link murmered, before he kissed Zelda back. He pulled back and took her hand again before he started to walk. Zelda followed him to the spot he had talked about. It was a tranquil place with a small brook over which a sturdy wooden log lay. Link sat down on the log and Zelda joined him. She let her leather peasant-boots touch the water and they made extending circles on the water. She used her arms for support as she leaned back a little. Link's brown, heavy boots lay deeper in the water and he was leaning forward a bit, supporting his weight by putting his elbows on his knees. "Link." Zelda suddenly said. "Are we going to participate in the next Smash Bros tournament?" Link looked at the blonde princess, who had a hopeful look in her blue, shining eyes. "Of course." Link answered. "Unless that's a problem to you?"  
  
"No, no. I'm happy to go. Do you know when it is?" Link shook his head. "No, but Fox knows." They remained silent for a while until Zelda sighed. "I love this place, Link. It's so quiet and peaceful. You don't really get to see these things as a princess." Link looked up at her. There was a sense of compassion in his eyes. "No, just walls." she said as she stared into the water at her own reflection. She looked at Link. "You have no idea how great it feels to be free, Link. And to be with you."  
  
"No, I have no idea." Link said with a slight smirk on his handsome face. "Hm." Zelda muttered smiling as she leaned against his shoulder. "I've got a sudden urge to give you a slight push, sweetie." Link said, pushing Zelda a bit as he put the emphasis on the last word. "Oh, you wouldn't dare." Zelda said confident, knowing Link would never push her into the water. "And why not?" Link replied. "Because if you do, I'll turn you into a boar. That's why." Link laughed a bit. "And you wouldn't dare THAT."  
  
"Oh no?"  
  
"No." Link said, looking into Zelda's eyes, almost straight down to her heart. "Because you wouldn't want to kiss a boar." Zelda moved her face a bit closer to his. "And... would I want to kiss a peasant?"  
  
"Yeah." Link said, shoving Zelda closer with his arm and pressing his lips to hers. "Oh, my." Zelda said surprised as Link pulled back. Suddenly, there was a huge amount of noice which echoed through the Lost Woods. The couple heard multiple voices and the sound of rapid footsteps. "I'll get you, annoying critter!" a loud male voice sounded. "Chill down, Terry!" a different male voice said. "Leave the poor cat alone, Terry. He was just playing!" A female voice this time. "Come on, brother. It's just a cat!"  
  
"I'm going to skin him alive!" Suddenly, one of the cats Zelda had seen playing shot out from the bushes and ran up the log where the princess and her boyfriend were sitting. He cuddled against Zelda, staring at the bushes with huge eyes and a thick tail. The next moment, a young man with a blond ponytail which came out from underneath his baseball cap appeared from the place where the cat had come from. He was followed by his brown-haired friend, a blonde girl, his brother and a girl with brown hair in a large ponytail. Zelda was a bit surprised by this wide variety of people, but picked up the cat and walked off the log. Before she could say a thing, the brown-haired man walked to her. He had a huge smile on his face. "Your Majesty!" he said as he bowed in front of Zelda. "It is truly an honor."  
  
"THAT is Princess Zelda? Hmph. Younger than I thought." Terry said, crossing his arms in front of his chest. Mary gave him a poke in his side. "Can't you be polite for once? You're talking to royalty here."  
  
"Excuse me. Who are you?" Zelda asked, still holding the cat as Link joined her side. "My name is Kyo, your Highness. And these are Terry, Andy, Mary and Mai. I must say it's a real honor to finally meet you in person." Terry shove Kyo aside and said: "Whatever. Listen sweetcheeks, don't ask me who told me this, but we got orders to search for you and go with you where ever you would go. I normally don't take orders from anyone, but the fate of the world seems to depend upon it." Zelda looked at the cat and remembered her dream. A man with the heart of a dragon and one with a heart of fire. She looked at Kyo. "Do you have... fire in your heart?" she asked carefully, barely realising what a ridiculous question it was. "Fire?" Kyo asked before opening his hand and raising it. A flame shot out from his hand. "Do you mean this, your Highness?" He closed his hand and extinguished the flame. Then Zelda knew it. These were the men the cat had mentioned in her dream. And it was no coincidence that they were here either. She had to help them. She knew it. The cat she was holding looked up at her with an intelligence not natural for a normal cat. He jumped off Zelda's arm and ran away into the lush foliage. His job was completed. Two third of the team was there. Now only Nakoruru and Galford had to show up. And united, the Light side could perhaps even stand a chance. Though that was perhaps too much optimism of the cat as he ran through the forests. 


	11. As time passes by

Chapter 11: As time passes by...  
  
In the weeks that followed, the five Humans, three Hylians and the Lylatan became good friends. They had to build a bigger tree-house, but the nine of them were able to handle it. The Humans helped with the gathering of money and food and they enjoyed their time with their new friends. Especially Terry, since he hadn't ever had so much people around him. Friendly people. He had insisted that Athena would remain home to take care of her sick mother. Not that Terry cared much for Athena's mother, but he hadn't forgotten what his father had said to him in that dream. That she was not to be trusted. Kyo missed her, but Terry thought that Athena wasn't able to break Kyo's heart that way. Terry was far from a sensitive guy, but he didn't want his best friend to get hurt by this girl. Terry hadn't trusted her from the beginning. She was just TOO sad to be true. Poor, poor Athena. Alone on the world with her sick mother. It could've been a nice fairy tale. But it wasn't. This was reality. Terry just couldn't forget what she and Kyo had done in his bed. When it would come true that Athena wasn't the sweet little girl she pretended to be, Terry would punch her down, he was sure of that. Making use of his best friend that way... That was asking for trouble. Zelda had been occupied by her dream for a while. She hadn't seen the girl with dark hair and the man with the noble spirit yet, but she trusted that they would come. One day, when she sat on the improvised balcony of the tree-house at night, Kyo approached her. "Goodevening, your Highness." he said polite. "Hey, Kyo." Zelda replied. "Your Majesty..."  
  
"Zelda."  
  
"Zelda." Kyo said, correcting himself. "There is a favor I wanted to ask you. If I may, of course."  
  
"Sure, go ahead." Zelda said. "You... Zelda, your reputation in the arts of magic is widely known across the world. I was wondering if you could teach me how to improve my skills with the fire. I am willing to pay for it." Zelda smiled. "Of course I want to teach you. But I do not need any money, Kyo. I've had enough money for the rest of my life and it didn't make me any happier."  
  
"You are most kind, princess." Kyo said, smiling. "No, I'm not." Zelda said. "Shall we start tomorrow?"  
  
"Great idea!" Kyo said enthusiasticly.  
  
The next morning, Link, Fox and Terry went to the marketplace to help Fox with his little merchandise. Each of them carried a bag of goods as they walked from the forest to Castle Town. "What's in all this, Fox?" Terry asked. "Junk." Fox answered. "And you sell it?" Link asked. "Yes." Fox said. "There are always idiots who buy stuff just to have it. If you let them think they can't live without it and that they can have it relatively cheap, you got yourself a bargain."  
  
"So you just swindle a bit?" Terry said, more as a comment than as a question. "Now that's a harsh word, Terry. I say... Help them off their money."  
  
"Swindler." Terry said with a slight tone of amusement in his voice. He had bought different clothes in the past weeks. All in the same nonchalant style as usual, but there was one thing which remained the same about him. His baseball cap. He refused to take it off. Now he was wearing jeans, a white shirt and a thick, brown, leather jacket. When the trio reached Castle Town, they helped Fox establish his stand at the marketplace. It didn't took long for the customers to arive at Fox's stand, since the Lylatan had created some reputation amongst the searchers for bargains and the finders of sales. Link had seen and experienced a lot in his life, but the things he saw at Fox's stand made him sometimes scratch the back of his head. Some people did nearly everything to get their hands on a good bargain and that was a strange thing to see for one who had almost nothing. Terry was no exception. He sometimes bursted out in laughter as Fox was speaking his usual saletalk, making people indeed think that they couldn't live without the thing. If Link hadn't known his friend better, he would have bought something as well, that was for sure. The three friends rather enjoyed themselves that day, especially when Terry tried to sell something as well. Link had to stop him from beating up a pretty arrogant noble. When the marketplace was closing at the end of the day, so did Fox and the three went to the local tavern to get themselves some well-earned beer. "Greatings, fair customers." the innkeeper said as Link, Fox and Terry took place at the bar. "What can I get to ease those thirsty throats?" The short, bearded man had quite the accent which Terry recognised as Scotisch and Link recognised as a Dwarven tongue. The stout man was indeed a Dwarf, since Link noticed that he was standing on an edge behind the counter. "Do you have some strong beer, my good man?" Fox asked in good spirits. It was pretty crowded in the tavern, but the noise wasn't overcoming Fox's voice. "Something strong, eh lad? I've got a nice Dwarven ale in the back of me tavern, but I doubt that would go through such a soft, Lylatan throat without burning it. And I doubt yer friends have what it takes either." Terry got a surprised look on his face. He slammed his fist on the counter. "There isn't a beer in the world a Bogard can't handle!" he said with a slight irritation in his voice. "Easy, lad. I see ye have the temper of me wife. I'll get all of ye laddies a sleek of it and then we'll see." The bartender disappeared through a door and returned with a bottle and three glasses. He put them in front of the three friends and filled them with the liquid from the bottle. "Here ye go, laddies. Don't say I didn't warn ye all." Terry picked up his glass and looked at the light-brown liquid inside it. "Hmph. Doesn't look much to me." he said. "Down the hose, my friends." he said to Fox and Link before he took a huge sip from his glass. "Hmph. You call this beer?" Terry said as he put his half-empty glass on the counter and whiped his lips with the back of his free hand, disappointing the Dwarven barkeeper. Link and Fox shrugged their shoulders as they looked at each other and Fox said: "Cheers." before he and Link took a sip from their glasses as well. Almost immediatly after they wanted to swallow it, they bent forward and spirted the beer out of their mouths and on the tavern floor. They started to caugh as the tears stood in their eyes. This relieved the bartender, who started to laugh. Terry turned to the man and said: "Kids." as he shrugged his shoulders. As soon as Link came to, he walked back to the bartender. He still wasn't completely over the beer as he put it on the counter. "One milk, please." he said with a hoarse voice, making the bartender laugh. The three friends remained in the bar for some time, until someone familiar entered the inn. Someone familiar to Link. He was accompanied by a few soldiers and they were pretty loud, so Link noticed them pretty fast. "Well, well..." he murmered as soon as he recognised the captain of the guards who had beaten him up in the dungeon. Link counted six men without their weapons who walked to the counter. "Beer for the tired soldiers of Hyrule, innkeeper!" the captain yelled as he slammed his fist on the counter. Link looked at him. He had still not forgiven the man for beating him up, let alone standing between him and Zelda. "Do you know that guy?" Fox asked. "He beat me up when he had captured me." Link said, gritting his teeth. "I'll get ye all some beer, lads." the Dwarf said before disappearing again behind the door. Then, the captain noticed Link. "Well, well. If it ain't the little fairy-boy." he said threatening. "I bet you know where the Princess is, you piece of scum. You know there's a reward for the one who turns her in, eh?" he said as he walked towards Link. "I don't know what you're talking about." Link said. "And even if I knew where the princess is, I would not tell you."  
  
"I believe you DO know where she is, boy. And if you don't tell me, I'll be forced to kick your little ass again." The two men stood face to face now. "You're just jealous, because you can't get a girl." Link said with a mean tone in his voice. "Maybe that's it. Maybe I AM jealous. There aren't many girls with an ass like that and such big tits." the captain said, infuriating Link. "You take that back, fuck-face!" Link said. Fox knew that when Link started to use abusive language, he was definetly furious. "Loosen up, fairy boy. I said she is hot. Don't tell me you don't want to fuck her too?" That was it for Link, with a furious strength, he punched at the man. Only to get his fist stopped by the captains arm, who punched Link in the face with his other hand. Link got knocked to the ground. "You're too green, kid." the captain said as Link shook his head to clear the fog and noticed blood dripping down from his nose onto his green tunic. Terry rapidly grabbed the captain at his collar and punched him hard in the face several times before he threw the man with his head against the counter. The captain bounced back and stumbled on the ground. This all didn't go unnoticed by the people in the inn, who started to cheer at the sight of the fight. "How does that feel, piece of shit?" Terry asked angry as he enclosed the knuckles of his fist with his other hand. While Fox helped Link up his feet, the other soldiers threateningly walked towards Terry. "Get him!" the captain ordered as he tried to stand up with his bloody face. "C'mon, get serious!" Terry said with a confident smile as he gave his cap a slight tug. The soldiers surrounded Terry, believing they could get him by attacking all at the same time. "Need some help, Terry?" Fox asked the blond young man. "Are you serious? There are only five of them." Terry commented. "Come on, guys. Don't keep me waiting." Terry said. That was the sign for the five soldiers to attack him. Terry did a step forward to get the soldier in front of him first. The man punched at him with his right arm, but Terry simply moved his upper body to the right to evade it. He grabbed the man's arm with his left hand and hit him in the face with his other elbow, facing the man with his back. Still holding the soldier's arm, he turned to the left to get away from the man's face and, while doing the half turn to get away from the man, he kicked another soldier in his face with his right foot, who fell backwards, because of the power behind the kick. Terry made a half turn back to exactly where he had had been standing before and hit the soldier he held for a second time with his elbow at the same place. He noticed a fist coming in from the left of him, so he duck underneath the arm while not letting him go. He hit the man he held at the back of his head and dropped him to the ground. He quickly turned around half a circled and hit the man behind him with the back of his left hand as he did so, forming a pretty heavy punch. He had no idea there had been someone behind him, but with so many people around him, the chance was pretty big. He did not let the man retreat to recover from this, but as soon as he had completed his turn, he punched the man in his stomach a few times before he grabbed him and tossed him over his shoulder at a second soldier, who fell down under the weight of his comrade. Terry's rough ponytail danced about, following his movements as if it did that for fun. "Hadn't had enough?" Terry asked when he ducked to avoid another soldier's punch. He punched him hard on the upper-leg, making him bend through his knees in pain. Terry rose up and formed a powerful uppercut, hitting the man on his chin and sending him soaring through the air for a couple of meters. The soldier who had had his friend thrown against him, had been able to stand up and grabbed Terry from behind, holding on to his waist. "We're not getting too friendly here, are we?" Terry asked, turning his torso around a bit and hitting the man with his elbow in his face, making him stumble backwards. Before the man could restore himself, Terry turned around to him, quickly turned his cap the other way around and jumped up in the air as high as he could. The dizzy man was still trying to get back to reality as Terry jumped at him and raised one fist in the air. "Power..." Terry yelled. Link could barely believe his eyes as he saw Terry's fist was starting to glow. Terry punched down with his glowing fist, which formed a ball of a strange force, and struck the man. "Dunk!" Terry finished as he landed on the ground and straightened his cap as the man flew backwards, striking through the wooden counter. Pieces of wood flew about and the sound of tearing wood could be heard. Steam floated into the air from Terry's fist as he looked around to see if there were some people still standing. There weren't. At that moment, the innkeeper returned with the requested mugs of ale. He nearly dropped them on the ground as soon as he noticed the mess in his tavern. Instead, he put them on the remains of the counter. "Thanks." Terry said as he walked to the mugs of ale. "That's just what I needed." He grabbed one of the mugs and drunk from it. "Wha... What by the beard of Olban Axecleaver has happened here!?" the tavernowner yelled as soon as he was over his surprise. Terry looked down at the unconscious men and then back up at the tavern owner. "They must have smelled your beer." he said, shrugging his shoulders. The crowd in the tavern started to laugh as Link and Fox joined Terry. "You okay, kid?" Terry asked Link as the people in the tavern returned to their own business. "I'm fine." Link replied. "I've had more punches in my life."  
  
"I believe these gentlemen will pay for the damage, innkeep." Fox said, looking at the Dwarf. This seemed to comfort the bearded man. "And what if they don't pay?" Link asked Fox. "They don't have a choice." Terry said, grinning.  
  
"Okay, Hylian. I'm going to teach you the createst sport of all time." Terry said. He had his cap backwards on his head and a ball was twirling around on his index finger. He wasn't wearing his red jacket. Just his new t-shirt and his blue jeans and sporting shoes. With the help of Fox, he had sat up a large wooden pole with a wooden board attached to it and to that board, he had put against a metal ring. The two had made the construction pretty sturdy and it stood proudly on an underground made from wooden boards in the middle of the forest. Link looked at Terry fascinated as the Human threw the ball to the ground and started to dribble to the pole. He grabbed the ball with two hands, jumped as high as he could and smashed it through the ring. He grabbed the ring and remained hanging on it for a few moments, checking the sturdiness of it as the ball bounced from the wooden boards onto the grass and remained lying there. Terry let go of the ring and collected his ball. "Basketball." he said with a grin, looking at Link. There were three people at the improvised field. Terry, Fox and Link. Not enough for a little game. But Terry figured Link needed some practice. Fox was already familiar with the game and knew how to shoot. Terry threw the ball to Link, who caught it as he cast a questioning look at Terry. "The aim of the game..." Terry started. "...is to get the ball through the ring using your hands. You can throw or dunk or whatever. You can only dribble with the ball. You know. What I did."  
  
"Bounce the ball?" Link asked. Terry nodded. "If you like to call it that way. Come on, give it your best shot, Hylian." Link looked rather clumsy as he dribbled around a bit and threw the ball at the ring. His shot just hit the board and bounced back. It took Link a long time before he finally scored, but he thought it was a great game. When Zelda came by to watch, Terry ran at her and said: "Hey, princess. Want to play a game? We need another man. And it doesn't really matter that it's a woman."  
  
"Oh sure." Zelda said. "Let me change first. There's no point in playing in my dress." She snapped her finger and lights flashed around her, forming a strange vortex. When it disappeared, she stood in her Sheikah-suit, without the mask. Terry explained her the rules and the teams were picked. Zelda and Terry against Link and Fox. It became more of a match between Terry and Fox, since Link and Zelda kept each other busy. Too busy to mind the ball. This annoyed Terry. All this love crap. All this stupid happiness. Where was it good for? It could only get you into trouble. And why wasn't he allowed to experience it? He hated it. He hated it so much. He had never felt love and he didn't want to experience it anymore. If he wasn't allowed to feel it, then so be it. If his father hadn't told him to go to Hyrule, he wouldn't have gone. If the world dies, tough luck. If hell breakes loose on earth, so be it. Did he care? No. Would he care? No. His brother was the only one who deserved to live. But even he had found happiness. Kyo hadn't. Kyo thought he had, but he hadn't. This made Terry feel better. Kyo was victim of love. This made Terry feel better. Oh, how he would love to knock Athena's lights out. Wham! Just like that. Down to the floor with that slut. It wasn't fair to think about Kyo, his best friend, that way, but who the hell cared? Everyone was happy, safe for Terry. And he was unfair for being jealous? Oh no! The world had made him like that. Life had made him like that. "Hey, showoff!" Mary, who had come to the field to watch, yelled as soon as Terry dunked the ball spectaculary through the ring. Terry just blew some air through his nose as he formed a grimas on his face. "Mind your own business, Mary." he said. Mary just shook her head slowly. She wondered if Terry would ever know how to treat a girl. She doubted it. A shame, that. Terry was pretty cool. Not to mention handsome. If he would've only been a bit more social, he would've been perfect. She looked at Link and Zelda, who just stood there, holding each other. Zelda giggled at some remarks Link made, though Mary could not hear what he said. It was odd. She had heard from Fox that Link had been a lonely tramp his entire life, but yet he was gentle and caring with Zelda. A real gentleman. Terry hated people, Mary had found that out. He hated love and friendship and was always distant, especially to her. That bothered her. Such a handsome guy... Terry walked to her. "Hey, Mary. Have you seen Andy and Mai? I have barely seen them these last days." Mary sat down in the green gras, stretching her arms behind her back on the ground for support as she looked up at Terry. "You know how they are, Terry. They're probably having some private moments."  
  
"Oh." Terry said. "So they're fucking each other again?" Mary sighed. "Yes, Terry. Probably." 


	12. A kiss of blood

Chapter 12: A kiss of blood  
  
Somewhere. Something. Thoughts it had. It wanted to get out. It wanted to live. It was Evil. Evil in it's purest form. It's influence made people hate, cry and fight. Every bit of misery in the world was it's bidding. Not because it could influence all the people. No. Just a handful he could use and control. People such as Adolf Hitler, Ganondorf, Zankurou, Joseph Stalin, Geese Howard and Osama Bin Laden. Such people, evil by heart, were given power by it. Power to murder. Power to conquer. Power to win. It had laughed when those six million judes got murdered in the gas chambers. It had cherished the sight of the collapsing Twin Towers and it loved Vietnam. It loved the suffering of it all. It loved the suffering of those who failed their exams and it loved the suffering of those who got raped and tortured. But it wanted more. It wanted Earth to become... Hell. And therefore, it had to come out. It had to get out of the seal. Out. To turn the Earth into Hell itself. To conquer the universe and lay waste to it. To destroy any and all ideals. But that required mortals. The plan had already been set into motion to kill those who would be able to oppose him. To kill those chosen by Destiny and chosen by the Heavens to defend earth. Kyo Kusanagi, Galford T. Weiler, Nakoruru, Link, Princess Zelda, Terry Bogard, Fox McCloud and Mary Ryan. They all had to die. At all costs. Then the conquest would be easy. But the spirits of the younsters were high, so it thought of something to lower it. It concentrated... There. It was done. It was able to scratch two of the list of Chosen Ones.  
  
Nakoruru was lying in her hammock in her cabin. It took quite some time before she had gotten used to the sea. The dream she had had those weeks ago still stood fresh in her memory. The bloody death of that blonde girl. That princess. Her dream had told her that she would have to go to a land called Hyrule to save that girl. She would have to guard her. And Galford at his turn guarded Nakoruru. Nakoruru had ordered her younger sister to stay home. She had a bad feeling about this all and she didn't want Rimururu to get into trouble. It would only be a couple of days before they would reach the coast of Hyrule. She was glad about it. The old boat was far from comfortable. She was also glad that Galford had decided to join her on her little quest. Nakoruru would else feel so alone. And she wouldn't even have dared to book passage to Hyrule. She wouldn't have dared to talk to the man. Perhaps the people around her were right. Perhaps she had wasted her seventeen years. But she preferred nature above people and that was it. She thought it had been strange that she and Galford hadn't conducted a search for Zankurou after he had possessed Galford. They simply hadn't thought of it, while it had been a clear sign that he hadn't been defeated. Very strange indeed. Mamahaha sat on some sort of branch. She was chained to it. It was an order of the captain. He was affraid the hawk would fly away and wreak havoc on the ship. Nakoruru had tried to persuade the captain that that would not be the case, but she had no choice. Shikuruu was also chained to the wall. Nakoruru didn't like it, but she felt comfortable with her two best friends around her. Galford looked out over the unruly sea. He had Poppy with him. The American ninja had just broken the chain which had been used to tie Poppy in place. Poppy was his friend, not his pet. Dumb idiot of a captain. Galford thought it was indeed strange to talk to a dog, but he could really speak with Poppy. And he didn't care what people around him thought about that. Perhaps he was just as weird as Nakoruru. Weird. Damnit! How could the poor girl possibly help it that she was like this? Galford slammed his fist on the rail at which he stood. A bit too hard. He cursed as he waved the pain away from his hand. He noticed the wind increasing. He liked it. In a few moments, he would hate it. He walked a bit around the ship until he noticed something strange. At first, he thought it was his imagination, but it was obvious that the water at a certain spot was darkening. He looked up at the sky. It couldn't be a cloud, since the whole sky was grey with clouds. The waves were getting rougher and rougher, increasing in height as well. Galford bent forward over the rail of the ship. He narrowed his eyes to see through the splashing water. There was something down there. Something... big. Suddenly, he saw something racing towards him underneath the water. The next moment, a huge tentacle shot out of the water. It was about as broad as Galford was tall. "What the hell is that!?" he yelled as he stepped backwards and the tentacle lumbered high above him, steadily increasing in length. It was huge! With a speed unatural for the size of the thing, it shot towards Galford, who ran away the moment he saw it coming. It was no use. The tentacle crashed through the rail and wrapped itself around Galford's legs. It pulled him rapidly off his feet, making Galford fall hard on his chest. The tentacle rapidly pulled Galford towards the gap in the rail, despite the ninja's efforts to grab hold of anything. Poppy started to bark loud as he ran to his friend's aid. He bit in the tentacle, but it was of no use. It was way too sturdy. The tentacle pulled galford towards the ravaging ocean, but Galford was just able to grab hold of the remains of the rail. At that moment, Nakoruru walked out of her cabin and saw the whole thing. "Galford!" she screamed as soon as she was over her surprise. She ran over to him and tried to loosen the tentacle's grip on Galford's legs. She had to bend forward to be able to reach it, dangerously hanging above the sea. When the tentacle made a pulling movement, Nakoruru lost her balance and fell into the swirling, dark water as she let a terrified scream. "Nako!" Galford yelled. He turned to Poppy. "Quickly, get my sword, Poppy." The dog ran to Galford's cabin and returned moments later with Galford's sword between his teeth. This was none too soon, since Galford, who was anxiously watching the water underneath him for Nakoruru to show up, almost lost his grip. "Good going, poppy." Galford said to the dog as he grabbed the sword with one hand. With just one hand at the rail, the tentacle got the better of him and he got pulled underneath the water. He felt the tentacle pulling him deeper and deeper in the water and he started to hack onto the thing with his sword. He had to be quick, since he was running out of oxigen rapidly. He didn't see Nakoruru anywhere, not that he really had the time to check for her. He just hacked at the tentacle and suddenly, red blood spirted out of the thing, mingling with the water. Galford kept hacking at the fresh wound, almost loosing his mind because of the lack of fresh air. His efforts were not in vain, though. The pain obviously got too much for the creature who was holding him and it let go. The first thing Galford could think of was air. He dropped his sword and rapidly moved his arms and legs in order to get to the surface as fast as possible. His lungs nearly exploded when he broke through the surfaceline as the sword sunk into the dark ocean. He caughed and caughed as he tasted the fresh air. Suddenly, he felt far from comfortable in the huge, dark ocean with some bloodthirsty creature underneath him. But he had to find Nakoruru first. He could then return to the boat with her. Then he could perhaps stand a chance against the creature. There were just a few minor dents in his little plan. First of all, he had to find Nakoruru. Second, he had to find... the boat. He was alone in the water, save for the monster and Nakoruru. The boat was nowhere to be seen and Galford was affraid that the monster was closer to him than Nakoruru was. It was hopeless. How would he possibly be able to find her? The situation seemed hopeless as he searched the waves for any sign of the girl. The clouds above him were darkening and it started to rain as the wind blew the waves higher and higher. Galford suddenly noticed something floating in the water. It wasn't too far away from him. He swum towards it as he heard thunder in the distance. A storm was coming in. That clouds had shed their darkness over the water and Galford wasn't able to see his own hands in the water. He was scared. Scared to drown. Scared to get pulled underneath the water or to be killed by that thing underneath him. When he reached the object in the water, he noticed that it, much to his relief, was Nakoruru, franticly trying to hold on to a piece of wood. She had her head on the wood as well. "Nako." Galford said with a raspy voice. "Hey." He grabbed on to the wood and Nakoruru slowly looked up at him. She looked devastated. "G... Galford..." she murmered. Her eyes were red from the salty water and her body was shivering because of the cold. The lifting of her head was too much for her and she slipped away from the wood and sunk into the water. "Nako!" Galford said as he quickly grabbed her arm and pulled her towards him. She caughed water out of her mouth and looked at him with half-opened eyes. Galford held Nakoruru tightly at his chest by wrapping his arm around her waist. "I don't want to drown, Galford." Nakoruru spoke weakly. She looked at him with glassy eyes. "I'm so scared."  
  
"So am I, Nako." Galford said, speaking the full truth. He looked at the piece of wood. It seemed to come off the boat. It had probably been struck away when the monster had attacked the ship. It was useless. It was too small to lay Nakoruru on to and it wouldn't hold them both would Galford lean onto it. Just when Galford thought their situation just couldn't get any worse, he saw the tentacles rising out of the water. Two, three, four... They rose out of the water and bowed down back into the wet substance, creating waves even bigger than those created by the wind. Then something big came. The water made way for a huge head of some sort. It slowly rose from the water, creating a huge wave in front of Galford and Nakoruru. It lifted the two high up in the air, pulling them under water for a few moments. When Galford managed to get back to the surface again with Nakoruru still at his arm, he got the scare of his life. In front of him was a huge head filled with long, relatively thin teeth. Galford had first thought that it had been a Kraken of some sort because of the tentacles, but this was something scarier, bigger and meaner. It had no ears whatsoever, but his head somewhat resambled that of a salmon, except for the fact that it was bent forward and that it had those humongous teeth in his mouth. Galford couldn't see the rest of the monster's body. Just that collosal head in front of him and those tentacles around him. The monster moved his head towards the two Humans. Slowly, as he opened his mouth, ready to rip the two helpless people to shreds. The tentacles didn't move. They kept in their place. This only emphasised the fact that it was a horrible creature, probably never witnessed by anyone. Galford knew that he would die. And with him, Nakoruru. Despite her tired body, she witnessed the creature closing in with horror. She looked at him. Galford stroke her cheek with his free hand. "I love you, Nako." he said to her. Nakoruru heard it despite the sound of the water around them. "I love you too, Galford." she said softly, knowing that she could finally release it. She would die, so she could release it. The joy Galford experienced nearly washed away the terror of his situation. He tilted Nakoruru's chin with his index finger and brought his salty, wet lips to hers and for the first time in their lives, they kissed each other, not caring for their impending doom, which lumbered tall above them, mercilessly closing his teeth in on the couple. 


	13. The return to the Super Smash Bros Melee...

Chapter 13: The return to the Smash Bros Melee Tournament  
  
The months passed and the Smash Bros tournament approached rapidly. Andy and Mai had in the mean time gone home. It had been strange. They had left a note that there were urgent problems to take care of at home and they had disappeared. This had worried Terry at first, but he would see later. He had heard from Link about the smash bros tournament and he was rather curious. He was positive that he would persuade the organisers to let him fight in it. And if that wouldn't help, a few punches would perhaps be in order. Zelda had been worrying about the black haired girl and the righteouse young man. They hadn't shown up and she felt that the two would be necessary for whatever would come. Link, with his natural positive look on life, had tried to cheer her up, but she remained worried. This could not fare well, she feared. This didn't hold the three Humans, three Hylians and the Lylatan back to go to the tournament. A week before the tournament would begin, five horses left the woods of Hyrule. The first horse carried Link and Zelda, the second Impa, the third Kyo, the fourth Fox and the last Mary. Terry refused to mount one of those 'cursed animals', so he walked behind the horses. No, he ran behind the horses Fox had bought on the market, despite Mary's attempts to persuade him to climb up behind her. The journey wasn't too long, but they had to stop several times to wait for Terry, who also had to rest once every half an hour, since he couldn't cope with the speed. But finally, after many houres of travelling through the lush forests and meadows, the party arrived at Mushroom Kingdom, home to the Smash Bros Tournament.  
  
Terry didn't know what to say when he saw the population of Mushroom Kingdom. He didn't know whether he had to get angry or just had to laugh. He had travelled all the way from New York to Hyrule to see THIS? A bunch of walking mushrooms? He remembered some company which made consoles for little children. They could've made this up. And the best fighters of the universe were supposed to be here? This was ridiculous! "Am I supposed to beat up mushrooms!?" he yelled furiously at Link, who dismounted the horse and lifted Zelda off it as well. "It looks like a cursed Grintendo world!" Link looked at Terry and blinked with his eyes a couple of times. "You mean Nintendo." Kyo, who walked past Terry with his horse in the direction of a building which had to be the stables, said. "Whatever!" Terry said. "One thing's for sure. I'm going to enjoy kicking their stupid little asses!"  
  
"Just wait, Terry. You're going to get a hard time fighting the best of the best." Fox said, who followed Kyo with his horse to the stables. "Oh, yeah!? I AM the best of the best, Lylatan!" The youngsters had gotten used to Terry's bursts of rage. They forgave him. Below that tough skin, there was a good heart. Though Terry never really showed it. "Easy, Terry." Mary said as she too, followed the others to the stables. "Easy!? Easy!? I expected a good fight and I get a bunch of mushrooms!?"  
  
"Those aren't the compitators, Terry." Impa said comforting as she put her horse on the stable as well. "I certainly hope so." Terry said, crossing his arms in front of his chest. At that moment, Terry noticed a man running towards them. He wore a strange combination of a superhero costume and a racing suit. He had a helm on his head with a visor which covered just his eyes. "Hey, Link! Long time no see!" Falcon yelled to the, now eighteen- year-old, young man. "Hey, Falcon!" Link greeted the man, who slowed his pace to a complete stop in front of Link. Terry raised an eyebrow. "Who's the fag?." he said, loud enough for everyone to hear it. "Terry!" Mary said, as if that would prevent Terry from saying such things again. "These are my new friends, Falcon." Link started, ignoring Terry's remark. "Meet Kyo, Impa and Mary. Oh and mister Grumpy here is Terry. "Very funny, pointy ears. One more comment like that and you'll be sorry." Terry said threatening. He walked to Link, but he got stopped by Kyo, who stood in between the two. "Calm down, Terry." he said. "He was just joking."  
  
"I don't have to dig his stupid jokes." Terry said angry. He walked away from his friends. "What has gotten into him?" Fox asked to no one but himself. "No idea." Link said.  
  
Link studied Zelda's rear end as she bent forward to unpack the stuff she had taken with her. Link and Zelda had taken a room in the same inn as the year before. They had decided to sleep in one room. Link on the floor on a mattress and Zelda in the bed. There hadn't been any rooms occupied, so Terry, Mary, Kyo, Fox and Impa had been able to take rooms in the same inn as well. "Say, babe..." Link started as he wound his arms around Zelda's waist from behind, forcing her to stand up. "How long has it been since we kissed, hm?"  
  
"Too long." Zelda said as soon as she was over the surprise. "I thought so." Link murmered in the soft skin of her neck. Zelda smiled and closed her eyes as Link placed a kiss on her neck. Link could be pushy, but he was it in a gentle sort of way, so she could do nothing else but play along with his silly little games. "I love you, babe." Link whispered in her pointy ear. "I figured." Zelda said, chuckling softly. The soft sound of kisses could be heard as Link tended Zelda's cheek and neck. "You think Terry is going to participate?" Zelda asked suddenly, but softly. "Yeah." Link answered, stopping his kisses. "You know him. When he's got something in his mind... I think he finds a worthy opponent here."  
  
"Yes." Zelda said. She moved her arms over her head and stroke Link's hair at the back of his head. "Come, my prince. Continue." she spoke with a honey-sweet voice.  
  
In the mean time, Terry was wandering through the town, softly cursing every 'mushroom' he encountered. What a disappointment! He didn't saw any reasons not to leave. Well, perhaps the fact that he would disappoint his friends. He suddenly remembered what Ganondorf had said in the prison. That he had ordered Terry to tell Zelda about him. Oh well. It couldn't be important. Terry thought about Zelda and her boyfriend. How disgustingly happy they were. Terry thought it wasn't fair. Okay, so they had their share of suffering. But Terry's life had been one big mess. He deserved happiness, but where was it? Nowhere around him, that was for sure. Damnit. He was getting soft. Perhaps Mary could bring him happiness. He stopped his pace. What the hell was that thought all about? He looked at a mushroom. They could talk like everyone else, but with an annoying high voice. This one was looking at him with a stupid grin on his face. "Scram." Terry said with a growling voice. Immediatly, the mushroom turned around and ran away on his tiny feet, making high noises. "Stupid thing." Terry murmered. "Hey, Terry!" he heard behind him. When he turned around, he saw Mary running towards him. She stopped in front of him. "Are you still angry?" she asked carefully. Terry shook his head slowly. "I overreacted." Mary smiled. "It's a good thing you know it yourself."  
  
"What is that supposed to mean?" Terry asked hostile. Mary sighed and looked at him with a sad look in her blue eyes. "Terry..." she started. "How come you are so bittered?"  
  
"Bittered? Me?" Terry responded. "You have no joy in life at all, have you?" Mary concluded in this question. "Why should I not be happy about my life? I'm an orphan, lived on the street for nearly all of my life while everyone around me seems so disgustingly happy. No, I have no reason to complain." Terry said sarcastic. "And then this Link and Zelda, dragging us to this cursed place while they haven't got anything better to do than to continuesly touch each other. What an idiots!"  
  
"They're just in love, Terry. A feeling you obviously haven't experienced yet!"  
  
"Oh, so you are so experienced in it? You must have the men at your feet, right? You're so perfect, Mary. I wish I could be more like you." Terry said unfriendly. Mary slapped Terry in the face, leaving a red mark on his cheek. "Jerk!" she said. "You have no idea how my life has been! You always feel sorry for yourself, but you have no idea how I have fought to survive, Terry." Tears shot in Mary's eyes. "You think I've lived a carefree life? You think that? Well, think again!" Mary turned around and started to walk away, leaving a surprised Terry. "Hmph. Girls." he said, realising how impolite he had been towards her. It made him hate everyone even more. "God damn it!" Terry cursed out loud. He yelled it, screamed it. Everyone looked at him startled. "Is this it, huh?" he yelled to the sky, raising his fist. "This is life? All the whining and stuff? Just wait 'till I die! I'll come up there and kick your lazy ass!" Terry yelled, shocking some bystanders. Terry didn't believe in 'the powers that be'. He didn't believe in a god or fate. Stuff happened. Usually the bad stuff happened to him and the good stuff happened to the rest of the world. Or not? Were there more people like him? Was Mary one of the less fortunate? Terry didn't want to admit it, he barely knew it, was barely able to comprehend it, but Mary was closer to his heart than he wanted her to be. 


	14. The tournament commences

Chapter 14: The tournament commences  
  
All particapents of the Smash Bros Melee tournament, the second one which beared the name Melee, gathered in front of Peach's castle. The Humans, Hylians, Lylatan, Dinosaur, Monkey, Dragon, Pokemon, Ice Climbers and Kirby. Link hadn't yet found a category to fit the pink blob into. He liked it better this way. No idiots. Just the best of the best to fight with. This time, Princess Peach Toadstool herself appeared on the balcony. She used a microphone to announce the beginning of the private tournament. Link looked around and enjoyed the sight of everyone who had come. Yes. He was back. Kyo and Impa were looking from a distance. Terry and Mary weren't there. "Do you know where Mary and Terry are, Kyo?" Impa asked. Kyo shrugged his shoulders. "I don't know, but I think they dig each other. They're probably enjoying some time alone." he answered, guessing completely wrong. He had been trained by Zelda to concentrate his flame more and it had indeed improved his skills in the ways of magic. He was glad that Zelda had wanted to help him. He couldn't hear what this Peach was saying, but he could see by the smile on Link's face that he was glad to be back. The group of twelve people and Kirby started to walk into the direction of a place behind the castle, which was a large field littered with two meter high stages. Just the mere sight of these blocks made the fighters feel nostalgic already. Link and Zelda walked hand-in-hand and smiled at each other. This was the place where they had met a year ago. This was the place where their wonderful relation had started. Zelda moved a bit closer to Link. She put her head on his shoulder and he wrapped his arm around her waist. "Feeling the attraction, babe?" Link asked, smiling at Zelda. "We're back, Link. I can't wait to get started." Zelda said happy. The couple walked in between the stages. It didn't took long before Peach joined the fighters as well and several organisors came, who took place on seats above the stages. The sun shone nicely and the sky was littlered with little white clouds. "Okay, everyone knows the rules." one of the organisors said through a megaphone. "I'd say there's nothing which holds us back anymore. Let's get started!" This was met with huge cheers from the fourteen fighters. Kyo, who had followed the group together with Impa and a few other spectators, laughed. He had never seen such a great diversity of fighters. Especially those friends of Link were weird. The ape and the fox. There were four stages available. And the names of the people got called when they had to fight. Link had to fight Bowser and Zelda had to wait. "Wish me luck, babe." Link said smiling, holding Zelda's hands. "Good luck, sweety." Zelda said, placing a kiss on his lips. Link ran the tips of his fingers rapidly across her cheek before he jumped up and grabbed the edge of the stage before he pulled himself up. "I wonder what'll happen." Kyo said curious. "You'll be surprised, Kyo." Impa said smiling. "I don't doubt it." Kyo said. Link saw his opponent had already climbed the stage. The young man drew his sword and readied his shield. He smiled confidently and his eyes narrowed. Bowser was a Dragon, but one that had evolved. He had learned to walk on two feet solely and had learned to speak English. He had kept his firebreathing skills and his incredible strength. He growled at Link with a loud, low voice. "Heard a lot about you, Hylian." he growled. "Is that so?" Link asked. "Yes. Mario releasing something when I was choking him. I had no idea what that had to do with our fight, though." Bowser spoke with the same low voice. Link grinned. "You two must be big friends."  
  
"Yeah." Bowser said, a sort of grin appearing on his face. "Okay, gentlemen. Three, two, one... GO!" the narrator which 'belonged' to Link's fight yelled, signing the start of Link's first match. Bowser didn't take things lightly on his first fight and charged Link in a wild stampede, his horns in Link's direction. Before the Hylian could react, Bowser struck him in his stomach, took him up on his horns and tossed him into the air. Kyo could barely believe his eyes as Bowser had Link fall on his spiked back and Link bounced off onto the ground, after which he stood up as if nothing had happened. Link should've been dead by now! "This isn't normal!" Kyo said, hardly over his surprise. "You've guessed it." Impa said, grinning. "Not bad." Link said and Bowser charged him again. But Link was faster this time. He threw his leg into the air and landed it heel-down on Bowser's head, making the Dragon fall down on his stomach. Link jumped up, pointed his sword down and planted it in Bowser's back, after which he bounced off, made a somersault and landed neatly on the stage. Bowser stood up and shook his head. He took a deep breath and Link was just in time to defend himself from Bowser's fiery breath by using his shield. Bowser looked like a living flamethrower as he engulfed Link in fire. It had no use, though. Link's sturdy shield was a perfect barrier for the young man, so Bowser ceased his attack. This was the sign for Link to attack so he quickly stepped forward and sliced to the left of him, striking Bowser in his stomach. Then he immediatly sliced right, sending Bowser sliding over the arena. "Get him, Link!" Impa yelled. Link rose his thumb to her before he turned to Bowser again. The two charged each other and Link bashed into Bowser with his shoulder, sending him flying off the stage. The Dragon hit the ground next to the stage with his back before he stood up. "This game's winner is... Link!" the narrator yelled. Link grinned at Bowser. "You held back, didn't you?"  
  
"Yes." Bowser said. "I want to save my strength for when I face Peach or Mario. Nice fight, though." he said, scratching his head. Link laughed and jumped off the stage, landing right next to Zelda. "Nice fight, my prince." she said smiling as she wrapped her arms around Link's neck and Link put away his sword and shield. "Not too bad, huh?" Link said with a grin. "That was so unbelievable!" Kyo, who came walking yelled. "How is that possible? You should've been killed!" he continued. Link turned his head to his Human friend. "Disappointed?" he said with a slight chuckle. "No, but isn't this kind of against the laws of physics or something?"  
  
"Don't worry about that, Kyo. I'll explain it to you sometime." Link said smiling, after which he returned his full attention to the lovely girl who had wrapped her arms around his neck. Then Zelda heard her name being called. "Rats." she said sighing. She let go of Link. "We'll finish this some other time." Link said with a smile. Zelda walked to the stage to which she had been called and placed a kiss on her hand, which she blew to Link. The young man caught the imagined object and smiled at Zelda again. How great it was to be in love with this goddess... Zelda climbed up the stage and Link then noticed she was wearing a simple dress and not her Sheikah-suit. He decided not to call her, since he knew she perfectly knew what she was doing. She wasn't stupid. Zelda was surprised to see who her opponent was. It was Princess Peach, who impatiently tapped the wooden surface of the stage with her foot as she crossed her arms in front of her chest. "If you're finally done with this wheedling with this peasant of yours, could we get this started?" she said angry. "Hello to you too, your Majesty." Zelda said in an unavoidable sigh. "Don't your-majesty me! Act like royalty for goodness sake. You look like a peasant!"  
  
"Flattery won't get you anywhere with me, Peach." Zelda said softly, smiling a bit. Peach looked angry at Zelda as the sign was given for the two to begin the match. Zelda knew there was no time for big spells, so she just had to use smaller ones which didn't took her so long to cast. "Come on, Zelda. What's taking you so long?" Peach said, awaiting Zelda's move, so she could counterattack. Zelda carefully walked to Peach. There was no need to rush things. She had to take her time. Peach estimated Zelda close enough and quickly ran at her. Her royal dress danced at her speed as she crashed into Zelda and rammed her down on the ground. Zelda quickly stood up and cast a small sparkle of electricity from her hand, hitting Peach with it and greatly increasing her offensive power. Peach's body violently reacted to the high voltage and now it was her turn to fall backwards as her body was still cracking with lightning. Peach rapidly stood up, not wanting to lose from the princess she despised so much. Zelda wanted to attack a second time, but Peach was faster and hit Zelda's arm down, before slapping the Hylian in the face a few times. Peach wasn't imbued with much of a fighting-style. Peach threw Zelda down on the ground and let herself drop onto the younger princess. Before Zelda could stand up, Peach kicked her in the side, grabbed her and tossed her to the side of the platform. Zelda stood up, only to see Peach charging at her. The Human jumped up and hit Zelda with her rear end, forming a smal explosion and sending Zelda soaring through the air, off the platform, in a pile of smoke. "This game's winner is... Peach!" the commentator yelled enthusiasticly. Zelda looked up at Peach, who had jumped of the platform and stood with her hands in her sides, smiling mean. "Not much. Just as I had expected." she said victoriously. At that moment Link came walking to Zelda and helped her up her feet. "You okay, babe?" he asked concerned. "I'm... fine." Zelda said. She looked up at him. "That didn't go very well..."  
  
"Hey, you're just a bit stiff. Don't worry." Link said, noticing that Zelda felt defeated. "Perhaps you shouldn't interact with peasants, Zelda." Peach mentioned. "I'll show you interaction." Zelda said angry before she put her hand at the back of Link's head, pulled him close and pressed her lips against his. She knew Peach hated it. "That was nice." Link said as he brushed away some strands of Zelda's hair from her cheek. "Ugh... Disgusting." Peach said as she walked away furiously. At least HER boyfriend was a hero. Not a tramp. The fights went on and on that day and Zelda won and lost matches, but nothing to be unsatisfied about. Link and Fox did great and at the end of the day, Link had won a stuffed bear. Whether it was a joke or a real prize, Link didn't know, but Fox was able to see the humor of it all. Link granted the stuffed bear to Zelda, which was more a sign of their bond than that it was anything special. Though for Zelda it was special. It gave her a feeling Link had fought for her. Which was particially true, since Link wanted to show off and impress her. He had even accidently jumped off the platform by himself, because of some complicated jump he had tried to perform. 


	15. Zelda's worst nightmare

Chapter 15: Zelda's worst nightmare  
  
That evening, Link, Fox, Kyo and Terry went to the local tavern to celibrate the first day of the tournament. They had managed to get Impa along and Terry was a bit over his gloomy mood. But Terry was always cheerful when there was free beer. And it was there. Mary and Zelda remained in Toad's inn to talk a bit about... Well, basicly everything. If only Terry had kept his bad mood and stayed in the inn. If only Link had wanted to spend some time alone with Zelda in the inn. If only Fox had wanted to stay in the inn to clean his gun. If only Kyo had stayed in the inn to practise his fighting skills. If only Impa had stayed in the inn to guard the Princess of Hyrule. If only one of them had stayed with the girls, it would've prevented a lot of grief, pain and bloodshed. But fate has a strange way of turning out. If only the girls had not been left alone... But alas, chatting in Zelda's room, the two could not foresee the terrible, terrible things which would happen to them. The pain which would be inflicted upon them and the effects which would spawn forth from this all. "I think Terry's a bit sad. He has suffered so much in his life." Zelda said, sitting on her bed and holding the stuffed bear in her arms. "We all have, Zelda. You have. I. And Terry as well. He shouldn't feel so sorry for himself." Mary, who sat at the other side of the bed, said. "Perhaps. But you have been really trying to get close to him, haven't you?" Zelda said with a teasing voice. "What is that supposed to mean?" Mary said indignant, though hardly meant. "The guys may be blind, but I am not." Zelda said with a sort of mysterious smile.  
  
"Here it is, men. Be quiet. We have to surprise them." a man said as he opened the door to Toad's tavern.  
  
"Well, he IS sort of cute." Mary softly admitted. "I knew it!" Zelda said victoriously.  
  
"What do you want?" Toad said, not trusting the men. "None of your business, mushroom." the leading figure said. "State your business or get out of my tavern." Toad said angry. One of the other men pulled out a gun with a silencer and aimed it at Toad. Without another word, he pulled the trigger and shot Toad through his head. The little being fell backwards without making another sound. The aura wasn't present in his tavern.  
  
"But Terry is so unreachable." Mary said sighing. "I think he doesn't want happiness." Zelda said. "I think he's affraid of it."  
  
"Up the stairs." the leading figure ordered.  
  
"You think so?" Mary asked. "Yes. But I don't think he's unreachable. You should be able to get through to him. Perhaps Link can talk to him." "That would be great!" Mary said enthusiastic.  
  
The leading figure heard the voices of Mary and Zelda and opened the door swiftly.  
  
Zelda noticed the door flying open and her eyes widened in terror. This couldn't be! She let out a horrified shriek and backed away, against the wall. There stood Ganondorf with a devilish twinkle in his eyes. Zelda started to sweat. This was impossible!! He was dead! She got so scared. So incredibly scared. She had never, never experienced such fear in her life. This couldn't be real! NO!! "Get away!" she screamed. "Link! Help me! LINK!!" she screamed, her actions being controlled by her fear. Mary startled by this. Zelda was deadly affraid of this man. The same guy who had set Terry and her free from prison. "Listen, buster. I don't know..." Mary started, but Ganondorf hit her hard in the face, making her fall down on the bed. "I've been waiting for this day, little princess." Ganondorf said with an evil voice. Zelda crawled of the bed, not taking her eyes of Ganondorf. She sat down in the corner of the room, holding the stuffed bear tightly, as if it would give her protection. "Thanks to you, I got ripped to shreds by the Shadows. But my Master revived me. My hatred for you was enough for Him to grant me a place in His grand scheme. And I got a chance to extract revenge upon you. Remeber that night, Zelda? How you screamed? I wanted to become King of Hyrule. I had to marry you for that and that's why I needed a son from you, so that a marriage would become necessary. According to the law, a dishonored princess HAS to marry the one who made her pregnant." Ganondorf stopped in front of Zelda and looked at two men, who awaited his command outside of the room. "You two can have the other girl, but the princess is mine." he said. The men grinned and walked into the room, where they grabbed the fogged Mary and dragged her outside. "Now we have a little privacy." Ganondorf said, casting an evil smile. He kneeled next to Zelda and grabbed her face roughly with his hand. "I don't want your father's kingdom anymore, Zelda. I'm more powerful than anyone now. More powerful than that pathetic boyfriend of yours. More powerful than his loser friends. More powerful than you can ever imagine. And all because of my Master. Last time, I raped you because it was business." Zelda's body shook from the word 'rape'. "But now, little princess, it's for vengeance. To satisfy my hatred for you. This is going to hurt you VERY much." "No, please!" Zelda cried. "Link, help me! LINK!!" she screamed as loud as possible. But her screams and cries were no good. No one could hear her. Except for Mary, but she wasn't able to do a thing. She had tried to escape, but the man had beaten her, tied her up and were busy performing Ganondorf's suggestion. The two girls went through hell, but for Zelda, it was much worse. The terrible memories which she had hidden away from daylight emerged again. And she went through something much worse than the thing years ago.  
  
"I bet he can't find the doorknob." Terry chuckled as Fox was staggering in front of the door to the inn. Link hadn't for once drunk too much and Terry was a living spounge considering booze, but Kyo and Fox were, well, partially demented. Impa hadn't drunk and she was also the less foggy of all. Link laughed at Terry's remark as Fox tried a few times to grab the doorknob. When he finally got it, he turned it and pushed against the door. It didn't open. Time after time he tried, but the thing didn't budge. "Hisss lockettt." Fox muttered. Link sighed, grabbed the doorknob and pulled the door, opening it without any efford at all. "The sign says: Pull." Link said brightly, pointing at a sign which hung in front of the window. Kyo started to laugh out loud. Very loud. "That's what you get after one beer..." Terry sighed, making Link chuckle. Fox stepped into the inn and greeted Toad. "Goottt morrrnink..." he said. Link noticed his tail wasn't making really fresh motions either. Link then noticed there was no Toad, but he saw blood on the counter. "What the..." he murmered and he quickly ran to it. "Wasss she rush?" Fox muttered. When Link looked over the counter, he saw to his horror Toad lying on his back, swimming in his own blood, a hole in his head. "By Din!" Link shouted. A terrible fear suddenly took control of Link. He knew something had happened to Zelda. He just knew it. "The girls!" he yelled as he ran up the stairs. Terry ran after Link as well, worried about the safety of Mary. They ran through the corridor. Suddenly, they heard Mary calling for help in the room next to Zelda's and Terry quickly opened the door to that room. He nearly smashed it out of it's hinges. And then he saw Mary. She lay there, naked, her hands and feet tied up with a rope, a sticky substance covered her legs. Terry didn't know what to say. He was shocked. He had experienced a lot in his life, but this... This was horrible. "M... Mary..." he murmered. "Terry... Thank God you're here!" Mary cried. Link knew Mary was in good hands with Terry, but he feared for Zelda. This horrible thing which had happened to Mary... Zelda would... No! He ran to Zelda's room and opened the door, only to see his girlfriend sitting in the corner of the room, naked as well, franticly holding to the stuffed bear, staring in front of her. Her dress lay in shreds next to her. Her legs were covered with blood and the same sticky substance he had seen with Mary. Her abdomen was also covered in blood and Link could see she was in a complete shock. Her lips moved uncontrolled and her eyes looked foggy. Link ran to her and kneeled next to her. This had to be a nightmare, this couldn't be real. He would wake up any moment now and Zelda would be smiling at him, telling him he had a nightmare. But he didn't wake up as he looked at the desecrated Zelda. Tears rolled down his cheeks. "Not again, Zelda. Why you? It's not fair!" He wrapped his arms around her and held her tight, but she didn't respond. She just kept staring in front of her and didn't let go of the bear.  
  
The next morning, Link and Terry were sitting in chairs, each next to the hospital bed of a girl. Terry next to Mary and Link next to Zelda. A mushroom-doctor stood in between the beds. Link and Terry hadn't slept the entire night and both their eyes were red from tears. Link had never thought Terry was able to cry, but he had seen it now. Mary had suffered a broken nose, but wasn't in such a bad shape as Zelda. She smiled weakly at Terry. She slowly raised her hand, still weak as she was, and slightly tugged Terry's cap. Terry looked at her with such sadness in his eyes, that it made Mary's eyes wet. Zelda was in a much worse shape, as the doctor had told Link. Her vagina was a mess. Torn was the only word for it. The doctor had wondered what kind of animal had done that to her. She had been incredibly violently raped. Her physical wounds would heal over time, but her mental wounds seemed... unable to ever recover. The doctor had tried to tell Link carefully what the odds were that Zelda would ever be normal again, but Link was devastated after he had heard that Zelda would probably never recover. He was torn by guilt. If only he had been there... Fox, Kyo and Impa experienced the same kind of guilty feeling. They were sad and shocked by this all. It was terrible. "Who did this?" Terry asked Mary with a low voice. "Ganondorf." Mary spoke softly, but loud enough for both Terry and Link to hear it. "Ganondorf!" Terry yelled. "No! That's impossible!" Link said, who jumped up from his chair. "Why?" Terry asked. "Zelda and I had killed him during the last tournament. Could he've been revived or something?" "I don't care!" Terry said angry. "Then he's going to die a second time!" Link had seen Terry angry before. Lots of times. But never THIS angry. But he had all reason to be angry. Link was still not really able to comprehend it really. It seemed so unreal. Ganondorf? Than it had been much more of a shock to Zelda than he had assumed. He looked at her. She was still staring in front of her. Each time he looked at her, Link hoped she would wake up and look at him with her pretty eyes, but she didn't. Each time it was a disappointment. Tears formed in his eyes again. "Definetly. He is going to die a second time." Link murmered, not taking his eyes off Zelda. He walked to her and hugged her apathetic body. "I love you, Zelda. I love you so much." he said crying. Fox, who stood at the entrance to the room, swallowed away his tears. The tough pilot remembered how they all had fun while Mary and Zelda had undergone... living hell. Terry looked at Mary. He had promised his dad to look after her and he had failed. He had failed Mary, he had failed his father, he had failed his friends. Friends. They were his friends. He had never had friends. And now, finally having people who accepted him as equel, finally having people who valued him, he had let them down. "Go get some sleep first, Terry." Mary said softly. Terry shook his head. "No. I find that asshole and kill him." Terry said firm. "You need to rest first, Terry. Please, do it for me. I don't want you to die at his hands." Mary said. Terry looked at the floor for a moment. "Okay." he said. Link was still holding Zelda and he was still crying. Terry looked at him. He seemed so miserable. But Zelda would probably never wake up. And she had suffered so much. Link hadn't told them that this had been the second time Ganondorf 'did' her. Terry walked to him and put a hand on his shoulder. "Let's rest, Link. We're going to find and punish that fucker." he said, gnashing his teeth. Link looked up from Zelda. He slowly nodded. Terry and Link said good-bye to Mary. And to Zelda. Though that hadn't much use. Link felt incredibly defeated when they left the hospital. He hadn't been there. He hadn't been there when Zelda had needed him, though he had promised to protect her. He felt no better than Ganondorf...  
  
Had it emotions, it would've laughed. It had tasted fear and sadness. It grew stronger. Not too much time anymore. Soon. Very soon, it would break free. All thanks to the Chosen Ones. It knew they would oppose it. But it would not matter. They would not stand a ghost of a chance.  
  
When Link and Terry went to bed, they both couldn't sleep. Link was the most emotional and cried as he lay on his mattress. He didn't want to sleep in the bed where Zelda had been sleeping, since it still had her wonderful scent in the sheets. He couldn't stand it. It reminded him of that cheerful Zelda. The laughing face and those sparkling eyes filled with happiness. The sparkles were gone now and the smile had changed into a horizontal line. She was basicly gone and would probably never return to him. Never. It all seemed so unfair to him. Why did the good people always had to suffer so much? Zelda had such a pure heart... Little did Link know about how a beautiful young love had been killed on the sea not far from Hyrule. Little did he know about what he was getting himself into. Little did he know that by extracting revenge upon Ganondorf, he would literally plunge the earth into hell. No, he didn't know of these things. He couldn't know. And if he knew, would it make him act differently? No. The only thing he felt was sadness and hatred. He would kill Ganondorf. He would avenge Zelda. Slowly, he drifted of into sleep, only to have a horrible nightmare.  
  
He saw her. Zelda! Amidst the flowers of some garden. She smiled at him, love in her eyes. She wore a dress through which sunlight cast and which allowed Link to see her beautiful body. She had flowers in her hair. She raised a hand which held the most wonderful flower Link had ever seen. "This is my love, Link. Can you catch it?" she said cheerful. She quickly stood up and dashed away laughing. Flowers flew up in the air. She turned around to him and smiled lovingly. "Come, my prince. Try to catch me and my love." She ran off again and Link decided to run after her, feeling happy. He chased her down to some forest in which she disappeared. Link immediatly chased her, laughing as he did. He saw her sitting in the forest meadow, her beauty captivating him as a small bird came and sat on her finger. He walked to her and sat down next to her. She looked at him. "You caught me." she muttered innocently. "Yes, I have." Link said as he stroke her cheek. Suddenly, Zelda groaned and bent forward in agony. The bird startled and flew away. "Zelda what is wrong?" Link asked, startled even more than the bird. Zelda started to scream and Link saw blood dripping down from her face on the gras. "Zelda!" he yelled. He couldn't see her face, but more blood dripped down. She was in horrible pain. Suddenly, she looked at him. Blood came from underneath her eyeballs and her face was full with cuts, blood dripping down. Her eyes started to bulge out of their sockets as she screamed. Then her eyes exploded in a ray of blood, leaving open holes in her head. And she didn't stop screaming.  
  
Link shot awake and sat up straight, looking in the eyes of his best friend Fox. "Link." Fox started. He had put a hand on Link's shoulder. "Ganondorf is here." 


	16. Showdown

Chapter 16: Shodown  
  
Outside of the tavern, five people stood. Kyo studied Ganondorf. He wasn't going to underestimate his opponent. He had to be careful, but he would use the new techniques Zelda had taught him. And he would use them well. He wouldn't let his friends down. Fox's hand soared above his holstered blaster. He could draw it in a moment's notice, but he didn't want Ganondorf to prepare for the shot. Terry gritted his teeth as he looked at the evil man in front of him. He would be able to avenge Mary. He would be able to beat Ganondorf. Link clinched the handle of his sword. He was thinking of dozens of ways to kill Ganondorf, but he was thinking of the most painful. "Well, well." Ganondorf started, an evil grin on his face. The mushrooms of the village hid in their houses. They were scared. Scared of Ganondorf and scared of the bloodshed which would occur. Ganondorf wore a black armor and a red cape. It suited the man. The four friends stood opposite of him, all feeling hatred and a lust to spill blood. Ganondorf's blood. Their feelings fed It. It grew stronger. But they didn't know. "If we haven't got ourselves a neat group of boyscouts. Are you... angry?" "You will pay, Ganondorf!" Link yelled. "Ah, Link. Long time no see. You were the one who had given Zelda enough confidence to literally doom me. But look who's back." Ganondorf said challenging. "And look who screwed your girlfriend." he continued. Terry quickly grabbed Link at his shoulders, since the young man wanted to charge Ganondorf and cut his head off. "Ganondorf is strong. We have to do this TOGETHER, fairy boy." Terry hissed in Link's ear. "Look. Terry Bogard. How's Mary? I hope my men hadn't taken her too hard. She screamed a lot. Almost louder than Zelda." Terry was able to control himself. But his rage grew and grew. "It's four to one, jerk-off. You can't win." Fox said confident. "Is that so? I'd like to see that. But I'm not alone, you know." Ganondorf said. He crossed his arms in front of his chest and grinned. Behind him appeared a vague shimmering portal thing. It was dark, almost as black as the night. And out of it stepped two men. A tall man with a tall blade and long, white hair: Zankurou. And another man who wore just wide trousers and who had a smirk on his face. He seemed pretty strong. The two men took position left and right of Ganondorf. "Oh, look. The freak-show has started." Terry said. "Quite the big mouth you got there, kid." the man with the naked upperbody said. "Kids, meet my... companions: Zankurou and Geese." Ganondorf said. "But before we begin, Link, when this is finished, would you go to Zelda and tell her that she's a very good fuck." This time, Terry couldn't stop Link. The Hylian charged Ganondorf in blind fury. "Damnit." Terry cursed as he followed Link's lead. It was the sign for Howard to attack Kyo, who stood closest to him. Zankurou wanted to run to Kyo as well, but Fox swiftly drew his gun and opened fire on the demon. The shots struck the evil man and he got pushed back, but it didn't kill him. Seeing that this had obviously no use, Fox charged Zankurou. Fox was incredibly swift and nimble and before Zankurou could recover from the shots, Fox jumped at him and quickly placed one, two, three, four rapid kicks on the demon's chest. Zankurou's body wanted to fall down, but Fox wasn't finished yet. He gave the demon one final kick with both of his feet, sending him falling to the ground. Fox made a gracious backflip and finally landed on the ground as he put away his gun. Kyo had trouble blocking Geese's punch, but he managed and kicked the man on the knee. Geese bent to the side as he groaned and Kyo quickly used his other foot to kick him from the other side against his face. Geese stumbled backwards, dazed, about to fall when Kyo jumped up, spinned his body around and kicked Geese hard in his face. The man's body spinned around and fell hard on the ground. Link swung his blade down, but it struck some kind of invisible force field and not Ganondorf. Instantly, the sword shattered into pieces. Ganondorf dropped Terry and punched Link in his face. The young man stumbled backwards. Ganondorf pointed his opened hand towards Link and some force send him soaring through the air. Link struck one of the houses and sunk to a seated position before losing consciousness. Terry punched Ganondorf in the back, but the result was... zero. Ganondorf simply turned around and laughed. It hadn't hurt him at all. Terry estimated Ganondorf's response, but at that moment, Fox shot the evil man in his back with his gun. Ganondorf slowly turned around as Fox kept shooting. Terry tried to punch and kick Ganondorf in a series of combos, but some kind of aura protected him. Ganondorf opened his hand and caught a few of Fox's shot's with it. "Bye, bye, my Lylatan friend." he said before opening his hand and sending Fox's shots back at him. Before Fox could activate his deflector, the shots struck him. With a scream, he fell to the ground, not getting up anymore. "Fox!" Terry yelled. Was he... gone? He backed away from Ganondorf. He had to think. This wasn't working. Before Ganondorf could react, however, Kyo charged the wizard from behind. He punched him in the back and flames shot from his hand. "Dokugami!" Kyo yelled. This struck through Ganondorf's shield! He stumbled forward, but Kyo wasn't finished yet. He made an upward punch with his other hand, creating more flames and hitting Ganondorf for a second time. "Tsumi Yomi!" Kyo then Jumped up a little as he struck Ganondorf for a third time, also creating flames. "Batsu Yomi!" Ganondorf fell forward and hit the ground. Terry looked at his friend, who stood with smoking fists. "Do you really have to scream stupid Japanese words with that?" he asked, not showing any sign of appreciation. "It was a simple magic barier." Kyo said. "Zelda had warned me." Terry looked in the direction of Fox, who slowly stood up. He was alive. No need to worry. Kyo, however, went to the Lylatan and helped him up his feet. "Are you okay, Fox?" he asked. "I'm fine." Fox replied. "Just my shoulder." Terry looked in the direction of Link, who just woke up. He was alive as well. No need to worry. He turned to Ganondorf. "You guys were pretty sissy. I hope we hadn't hurt your feelings, because now you die for what you've done to Zelda and Mary." Terry spoke angry. Ganondorf simply stood up and dusted off his armour strikingly. At that moment, Zankurou and Geese also stood up without any effort, no sign of pain or whatsoever. This surprised the four friends and Terry knew they were in trouble. Link and Fox were in no shape to fight and the three opponents were incredibly strong. But they had desecrated Mary! The one girl they shouldn't have touched! Terry didn't waste time, but attacked Ganondorf with a yell. He punched him in his face and his stomach. He kicked him at every place possible. He wanted to kill Ganondorf. He had to die! Die! Die! Die! Terry got furious as his attacks struck Ganondorf, made the evil man collapse time after time, but he kept standing up and laughing. This enraged Terry. This enraged him and enraged him. He had to kill Ganondorf! Terry saw Mary, tied up, in pain, naked. And it fueled his hatred even more. He punched and kicked like a madman, each blow bolstering a lot of power. But Ganondorf kept recovering. Kyo had never seen Terry THIS enraged! Fox and Link were surprised as well, but even more surprised why Ganondorf let himself get beaten up. And why Zankurou and Geese were just standing there. There was something wrong. "We have to fight!" Link said. "We have to finish them off!" After he had said that, Link wanted to attack Ganondorf in his poor shape, but he got stopped by Zankurou, who swung his blade dangerously in front of Link. "Let them have their fun, mortal." he said with his low voice. "Fun!?" Link yelled. "I'm gonna kick your ass, that's what!" Link suddenly saw visions of Zelda. He suddenly experienced her fear. It was terrible! With tears in his eyes, Link drew a knife and charged Zankurou furiously. Kyo and Fox decided to take on Geese, though Fox wasn't in such a good shape at all. Link caught Zankurou's long blade with his shield and nearly stumbled on the ground because of the blow. He kept his balance, however, and cut Zankurou's stomach open in a powerful slice. Zankurou just smiled devilishly. "You like blood, Link? You want more? Then try to run me through!" Link saw Zankurou's blood dripping on his boots and everything around him turned foggy. The blood of the demon... It was doing something to him... All he could see was Zankurou and he could feel the demon's heart-beat. And Link wanted to... terminate it. The blood pushed him over the line of sanity and with a loud howl, Link charged Zankurou. The demon tried to ward off Link's attacks, but the young man threw away his shield and used both hands to deal incredible blows with the small knife. The steel met and sparkles flew about as they clashed. "Ganondorf!" Zankurou yelled, feeling he would not be able to hold Link back any longer. It was indeed his job to make Link loose it, but he would not survive this. Link pushed his muscles to the limit as he hacked in Zankurou's direction, furiously trying to break his opponent's defence. Kyo and Fox looked at the scene in horror. This wasn't Link. "There's something really wrong here, Fox." Kyo said. "What the heck is going on?" Fox murmered, still holding his hand on his wounds. "You want an answer? You can have it!" Geese said as he ran at the duo. He kicked Kyo away before he could react. Fox saw his friend hitting the ground hard and he drew his gun and aimed it at Geese. "You're going to shoot a harmless opponent, Fox?" Geese asked. "Back off of Kyo." Fox ordered, not being disturbed by the fighting on the background. Geese remained standing. "Don't do anything foolish, Fox." Kyo said, noticing the disturbing look in Fox's eyes. Something was grabbing control of the Lylatan. "I can think myself, Kyo." Fox said, gritting his teeth. "Whatever you do, don't shoot him." Kyo said. "Shut up, Kyo!" Fox yelled suddenly. He looked at him. Kyo startled. That wasn't Fox who looked at him. "Easy, buddy..." Kyo tried. Fox pointed his gun at Kyo. "Shut up!" he said before he shot Kyo through his head. The young man sank to the ground. At that moment, the fate of the world was sealed. A void not far from Fox opened, and a giant chainreaction occured, creating a huge explosion which sucked up half of Mushroom Kingdom. Disintegrating everything because of the pure heat. The hospital, the taverns, Peach's castle. And a lot of people of Mushroom Kingdom found a swift death. Link, Fox, Terry, Kyo, Zankurou, Ganondorf, Geese... Everyone was gone, simply vaporised... Zelda, Impa and Mary would not weep, for they too, lost their lives in the explosion. All of the Chosen Ones were gone now and with them, thousends of people as well. Was this the end? No. It was merely the beginning. 


	17. The start of Chaos

Chapter 17: The start of Chaos  
  
The mushrooms watched in awe as another military convoy passed their houses. It was a huge noise of armoured vehicles which rode over the dusty streets. This had been going on for days and the inhabitants of the torn Mushroom Kingdom didn't seem to get any peace. They all felt devastated after the loss of their beloved ruler, Princess Peach Toadstool, who had been killed in the huge explosion, together with thousends of people. Thousends. It was world news. CNN updated the bodycount daily and president Bush had decided to send as many people to Mushroom Kingdom as he could spare. Officially to help any survivors and to help count the dead. Officially. But every mushroom in Mushroom Kingdom figured there wasn't an army necessary to count bodies. There was more going on. But no one was allowed near the location of where the explosion had started. Mushroom Kingdom was in a fog. Half of it was destroyed and the other half was trying to understand it all. It would take weeks, months even, to recover from this horrible incident. And who would rule the country? Who would rebuild it? No one knew. The news that not one, but TWO princesses had died quickly travelled around the world, reaching even Hyrule. King Harkinian was devastated as soon as he heard that his beloved daughter had been killed. He quickly found out that she had gone with Link and his anger almost toppled his grief. This Link... He had caused Zelda to die! But at the same time, the King knew that it was all his fault and not Link's. If only he had been not so stern towards his daughter... If only he had allowed Link with her... Then she wouldn't had left Hyrule and she would've been still alive. But she was gone... Gone! First his wife and now his only daughter... He suddenly realised how stern he had always been with her. He had always told her what to do and how to behave, but he had never really spent time with her in a fatherly way. The death of his wife had made him so protective about Zelda. And now that level of protectiveness had killed her. He buried his face in his hands. Some time passed before someone knocked at the door to his room. "Your Majesty. It's me, Prince Marth. Might I have a word with you?" a voice sounded. "Sure, come in." the King said with a rusty voice. Rusty from the tears he had shed because of the loss of his daughter. The door opened and Marth stepped in, closing the door right after Malon followed him as well. The King didn't protest on having a peasant girl in his room. He didn't care. What did it all matter in comparison to his daughter? "What is it?" Harkinian asked in a sigh. "Forgive me for my rudeness, Sire. But Malon and I would like you to join us to Mushroom Kingdom. To find your daughter." "Zelda is gone. Didn't you know?" Harkinian muttered angry. "No, she is not." Malon said. Harkinian sat up straight. "What are you talking about?" he asked, presuming this was a sick joke. "I dreamed about her." Malon said. "She's alive." Harkinian showed a slight smirk. "You dreamed." He stood up from his bed and walked to the window. "Zelda was a dreamer. When she was little, she used to draw little men. Knights. And they fought against a big green dragon, trying to protect a little girl. And the little girl was she. And now..." The King paused and looked down. "The dragon took my little girl." he said with utter sadness in his voice. "No, your Majesty! The knights are still fighting! I know!" Malon said as convincing as possible. "Get out of here." Harkinian said with an angry voice, not turning around. "But..." Malon tried, but Marth put a hand on her shoulder. "Let's go." he said. The two reluctantly left the King's chamber and, on their way to the exit of the castle, Marth said: "I believe you, Malon. And I'm going to find Zelda. I'm taking my unit with me and I'll find her." He spoke the words determined. "Then I'm going with you, Marth." Malon said. "No." Marth simply replied. "I don't know what has happened in Mushroom Kingdom, but I've heard a large portion of the American army is en route to the place. There's more going on then people are willing to tell us, honey." Malon grabbed Marth's arm. "Yes. And that's why you need me. I know something about medical treatment, Marth. And I know how to use herbs to create powerful potions." "But..." Marth started, but he didn't got to finish it. Malon stopped him by putting her hand on his chest. "You're going to take me with you. Period." she stated. Marth sighed. He couldn't possibly deny his girlfriend. Not that he wanted to do that, but this could be dangerous. Someone... or something was behind the recent events. The Human just knew it.  
  
General Elia Banderas kept staring at the sight in front of him. He had never seen anything like that in his nearly twenty years of military service. He kept watching it, undisturbed by the movement around the area. The movement of hundreds of soldiers, tanks, armoured cars, artillary and more of the serious military muscle America and the United Nations had been able to scramble in the short period of time. Everything in a twenty-mile radius had been shut tight. No one was allowed in or out of the area. Air traffic had been re-routed and helicopters and fighterplanes patrolled the skies above the thing which had imbued the world leaders with so much fear. Elia felt a bit uncomfortable as well in front of the object. He wanted to give the order to nuke the whole thing down and be done with it. But that wasn't allowed. The powers that be were curious about it and nuking Mushroom Kingdom a second time would not be the best idea of all times. But the thing stroke fear in Elia's heart. He had seen a lot in his life, but he kept a good distance between him and the object. The closer he got to it, the more scared he felt. He tried to catch a glimpse of what was behind the huge portal which stood in front of him. It was almost the size of a skyscraper and incredibly broad. The frame was what scared Elia most. It was decorated with tormented faces and strange looking demons in howling positions. A frightening sight. The frame encircled a strange, shimmering portal, almost resembling a pool of completely black water. Only on it's side. It pulsated and strange screams sometimes emerged from it. Elia would be glad when he would finally fight in a normal war again. "Sir." a soldier yelled as he came running to Elia. "A message from Washington, sir." the young man said as he handed over the message to his older superior. Elia read it and whistled. "It seems like half the galaxy is worried." Elia murmered with his veteran voice. "We're going to get reinforcements, kid." he said to the soldier who had just delivered the message. "From what country?" the young man asked. "Not a country." Elia said as he walked away from the portal and to the command post, followed by a surprised younger soldier.  
  
"Amongst the thousends of casualties also the deaths of he princesses of Hyrule and Mushroom Kingdom have been reported. The military is currently investigating this strange catastophic event and is bound to have further information as we speak. Does this event has a lot of effect on the international stock exchange? We ask..." Andy hit the red button on the remote control of his television and the newsreader was silent as the image disappeared. Andy was in thought. Princess Zelda was dead. And there was a big chance Terry was as well. He had travelled all the way with the princess and the odds were pretty big that he had been caught in the explosion as well. Andy sighed and bit his underlip. "He's probably still alive, Andy." Mai said softly. She sat next to him on the couch. "I don't know." Andy murmered. "Terry can be an insensitive asshole at times. And I hope he was now as well. And that he left before... But Zelda is dead. And presumably Link, Impa and Fox as well. I don't know about Terry and Kyo. I hope they're still alive, but..." "Relax, Andy." Mai sighed. "How can I possibly relax when I don't know whether my brother is still alive or not?" "Then perhaps we should go to Mushroom Kingdom and find out." Mai suggested. Andy looked at her. "Good idea." he said after a short period of silence.  
  
Several miles from the restricted area in Mushroom Kingdom, three strange travellers wandered in the direction of the portal. One was a large grey wolf, the second was a large wolf-like dog, who was smaller than the wolf and the third was sitting on the back of the wolf: A gracious hawk. They had walked all the way from the coasts of Hyrule to Mushroom Kingdom. And the smart animals were thinking of a way to get past the border of the 'no- go-zone'. They had lived in Hyrule for nearly a year now, no chance of returning to Japan. They were sad about the losses of their masters and now something was luring them to Mushroom Kingdom. They walked slow, tired of the long journey. But they couldn't stop. For something was telling them to go to the portal. To receive what would come. To die. 


	18. 

Chapter 18: ?  
  
Zelda felt incredibly comfortable, lying there naked in Link's warm embrace. She felt his skin against hers underneath the blankets of the soft bed. They kissed and started to make love. Again. Their clothes were scattered across the room, disorderly in the wooden cabin. But they didn't care. The only thing they cared about was each other at that moment. And at the moments before and the moments that would come. They loved each other and released it time after time. When they finished their heated loveplay with intense moans, they kept staring at each other. "I love you, Link." Zelda said, caressing her lover's chest. Link kissed her forehead. "I know." he said with a smile to his lovely girl. "Do you... love me too?" Zelda asked with an innocent smile. "No." Link said grinning. "You!" Zelda said laughing, giving Link a slight push. Not too hard. She didn't want to push him away from her. Never. Outside, the couple heard voices. A loud one, belong to Terry, shot out from the others. "How about that, Galford? No one can beat me!" "Yeah well, I'm just learning this game, so it's no miracle you keep beating me." "That's true, Terry." a female voice said. Outside, Terry was teaching Galford basketball. Like Terry did to everyone, he beat him over and over again after he had taught him that the ball had to go into the ring. A bit off from the court, sitting against a tree was Kyo. Next to him stood Fox, poundering his head over the latest events. He felt guilty for shooting Kyo. But his friend seemed to just make jokes about it and didn't take it as seriously as he. "You're a walking collection of nerves, Fox." Kyo said chuckling, his hands behind his head, relaxing against the tree in the afternoon sun. "I'm just searching for a logical explanation." Fox said, looking at Galford, who tried to throw the ball into the ring. "You won't find one, my friend. You've been thinking about this ever since we got here. That's weeks ago. Give it a rest." "I wish I could. I wish I could just relax and enjoy this life here, but I just can't." Fox said, putting his hands in his pockets. "You're a man of facts and science, aren't you, Fox?" Kyo mentioned. Fox nodded. "Zelda has returned to normal and she and Link are constantly doing it, despite Ganondorf's actions. Terry is more friendly towards Mary than I could've ever imagined and you, Kyo, are more relaxed than I've ever seen you before. This looks like bloody paradise!" Kyo shrugged his shoulders. "Perhaps it is." Fox looked his friend thoroughly in the eyes. "You don't actually believe that crap of heaven and hell, do you? And then how come we are the only ones here? Like we are the only ones who have ever died." "I don't know. But how can you explain this then? At one moment we're fighting and the next moment we're blown up and end up here. In one piece. And everyone is happy and feeling great. Well, except for you." Fox chuckled. "That's just me." He paused for a moment and his eyes searched the side of the woods in front of him. They found Nakoruru, sitting alone at a tree. "I just worry about Nakoruru." Kyo looked in the direction Fox looked at. Nakoruru noticed the two friends were looking at her and quickly turned her head away. "She's a bit shy." Kyo commented. "A bit?" Fox said. "She rarely comes near us. She's alone most of the time. And she even rarely speaks with Galford." Kyo shrugged his shoulders a second time. "If she prefers that, then so be it. She's a nice girl. And solitude can be great at it's time." "Human wisdom, I suppose." Fox said. "Forget it, Fox. Humans are the dumbest creatures in the universe." Kyo said with a laugh. "You should know." Fox replied.  
  
Later that afternoon, in the cabin, Link and Zelda were talking to each other. Softly, not trying to break the romantic mood they were in. "Do you like it here?" Zelda asked. "You mean inside you?" Link asked with a held grin. "Be serious, Link." Zelda said with a smile. Link lay on his backside and put his arm underneath his head. "Yes." he said as Zelda put her blonde head on his chest. She looked up at him. "I like it here, Zelda. I feel so at peace." "Me too." Zelda replied. "Do you think we are... where the Goddesses live?" Link asked Zelda carefully. Zelda didn't answer for some time. "I don't know." She started to lie on her stomach and lifted up her head to face Link. "But I do know that I don't want to leave. I want to be here with you forever." She moved over Link and some of her long hair fell on his face. She moved her arm up and brushed them away, caressing Link's cheek softly. "Don't you want to stay?" she asked. "Yes. But something feels wrong. We're not supposed to be here. Not yet. I've got a feeling we've still got... work to do. And we left so many people back on earth and..." "You don't know if we're dead. Perhaps we're just dreaming this." Link shook his head. "No. It feels too real." Suddenly, the door flew open and Terry entered the room. Zelda and Link quickly sat up straight and Zelda pulled the sheet over herself and Link. "Terry!" Link said angry. "Am I interupting?" Terry asked annoying. "Yes." Zelda said. "Playtime's over, lovebirds. Link, it's our turn to find food this time. You've been lying in your bed all day, try to make yourself useful for a change. And hurry up, I'm starting to get hungry." Terry said as he started to collect Link's clothes. He found Zelda's panties and picked it up with his thumb and index finger. He looked at Zelda and made a face towards her. "Couldn't find anything smaller?" he asked. Zelda started to blush. "Well, I..." "I don't want to know." Terry said, dropping the piece of clothing before tossing Link's clothes in his face. "I see you fully dressed outside the cabin in two minutes, fairy boy." he said before he left the room and closed the door. "What a jerk." Zelda said angry. "That's just Terry." Link said with a grin, though he wasn't pleased about Terry's latest stunt. He stood up from bed and started to dress himself. Zelda watched him doing it. "I just wished he would've given you ten minutes." she sighed. Link chuckled. "We'll have time afterwards, my hot-blooded princess." he said. "Hot-blooded?" Zelda said indignant. She grabbed one of the many pillows of the bed and threw it at Link, who was just in time to block the projectile with his arm. Zelda put her arms behind her back, revealing her naked upper- body because she released the sheet. "Just be careful, okay?" Link made a low purring sound and jumped up the bed, standing on his knees and hands as he kissed Zelda on her lips. "You're such a vixen..." he murmered. Zelda gave Link one of her tender smiles. "Fairyboy!?" Terry yelled from outside the cabin. "Shit." Link said. He got off the bed and put on his tunic. He grabbed his sword and gave Zelda one last smile before he exited their room.  
  
"Why on earth did you bring your sword with you?" Terry asked as he and Link made their way through the vast forest. "Out of habit." Link answered. "Good God, we're in paradise and mister here brings with him a sword! What can possible happen here?" "You just never know." Link replied. "I just feel naked without my sword." "Have you been around Zelda too long or something? Tell me, is she THAT good that you spend the entire day with her in bed?" Terry asked with his usual tactlessness. "None of your business. But if you must know... Yes, she's great." Link said. "I figured." Terry sighed. "Hey, you're starting to get along with Mary neatly as well. Who knows where that may end?" Link said with a grin. "Well, at least not in bed doing rancid stuff." Terry said as he brushed away some leaves before he continued his walk. "It's not rancid, Terry. You've watched too much porn." "I don't watch that stuff, pointy-ears." "Then you don't know whether it is dirty or not." "It's rancid. You're actually IN Zelda, right? You go INSIDE someone ELSE's body. I think that's pretty rancid." "Have you actually paid ANY attention during biology-classes?" "I never went to school." "Oh." "At least... Not after my dad died..." "I'm sorry." "It's okay. It made me independent." "I never really knew my parents. They got killed by a band of brigands when I was young." "Do you think about them a lot?" Link shook his head. "Not really. I sometimes dream about them. That's all. And you?" "I can remember dad the most. I think of him a lot. Of what he taught me. How he... loved me as a son." Terry let out a slight chuckle. "Does it surprise you?" he asked. "What?" Link asked. "That I have actually cared for someone?" "No." Link said honestly. "You care for your brother. And you care for us." Terry looked up at Link. "Maybe." he said. He looked around the forest. "Or maybe this idyllic place makes me soft." Link smiled. "Terry, my man. I know you long enough to know that you've got a golden heart and that you really do care about your friends." Terry smiled for a moment, but then his face turned serious again. "Cut that shit out, you sound like a fag!" he said. Link laughed and gave Terry a pat against the flap of his cap. "Our Terry begins to turn into a wuss! I'm on to you!" he said laughing. "Say that again and I'll rip your guts out, fairy boy!" Terry yelled as he straightened his cap and started to chase Link, who figured it was healthier for him to run and did so. The two ran through the forest for a few minutes, until Link suddenly stopped. Terry nearly bounced against Link's back as Link stared at the two figures in the open spot in front of him. "You dumb-ass, pointy-eared son of a dungpile! Why do you..." Terry started, but he didn't got to finish his sentence, since he too saw the two people. "Greetings." Link said, knowing of nothing else to say. "Greetings, Chosen One." one figure said. It was a young man, who wore a strange garb with some similarities to Galford's ninja-outing. He wore a head-band which made his brown hair fall neatly over his forehead. He had a calm, low voice. Next to him stood a young woman. She wore a blue suit, also very ninja-ish, to give it a name, and had her brown-red hair in a dancing ponytail. Both the characters had a sword hanging in a sheath at their backs. "Chosen one!?" Terry yelled. "That's what my dad said in my dream! Who are you people?" "I am Hayabusa..." "Bless you." Terry commented. Link gave Terry a dig in his side. "...and this is Kasumi." the young man continued without paying much attention to Terry's comment. "Hey, have you been inside her?" Terry said before Link gave him another dig in his side. Terry gave Link a pat against the back of his head. Hard. "Would you stop that? I'm not touching YOU all day either, am I?" Link straightened his pointy cap. "Would you get some manners first? Instead of telling everyone that they're horny or gay, you should think a bit more. What if she's his sister?" "Well... You could even be Zelda's big brother... You're both blond..." "Okay! So that's low and disgusting!" "You both have blue eyes..." Terry said with a mean grin. "Be careful, Terry! Wouldn't want to mess up our 'great' friendship." "Now here you go again with those faggish comments of yours. I'm not interested in a trio." "Terry! Keep your Din-damn mouth shut!" "Ow, touchy... What would mister Sushi and his mistress think about that, huh?" "For Farore's sake, Terry. At least TRY to pretend you have manners!" Terry put a finger against Link's chest and grinned. "You are angry, aren't you?" he said. "Try furious." Link said. Terry chuckled as he walked to Hayabusa and sticked out his hand. "Well, mister HolyBabylon, I'm Terry." "It's Hayabusa... And I know you, Terry Bogard." the young man sighed as he shook Terry's hand. "Oh. And you are miss CatSuckMe, am I right?" Terry said, looking at Kasumi. "Kasumi." the young woman said. "Ah, yes. Of course. Why not Jack and Jane?" Terry asked. "Because we're Japanese, you stupid American!" Hayabusa said, agrivated by Terry's big mouth. "Hm. You're as touchy as my fairy friend here, HowAreYourBruises." "It's Hayabusa!" Kasumi suddenly said furiously. "Big mouth for such a little girl, CatchYouMe." Hayabusa suddenly grabbed Terry at his collar. "At least bring up some respect for her!" he said angry. Terry saw the anger in Hayabusa's piercing green eyes and knew that he had gone too far. But he had been in a bit of a jovial mood and the names sounded just ridicilous to his ears. "I'm sorry." he murmered. "To you too, fairy boy." he said. Link was stunned. He had never heard Terry making an apology before. And he really meant it. Hayabusa threw Terry down to the ground and turned away from him, still angry. Kasumi put a hand on his shoulder and said: "Please, Hayabusa-san. They are the only chance we all have at saving the world." Hayabusa slowly nodded. He looked at Kasumi. "Not just the world, my dear Kasumi. But EVERYTHING." "I apologise for my friend here. But could we please get some explanation about what is going on here? Why are we the 'Chosen Ones'? Where are we? What are we doing here? " Link said. Hayabusa turned to Link. "We will explain everything to you, Link." 


	19. Their destinies revealed

Chapter 19: Their destinies revealed  
  
Terry was eating an apple as he leaned against a tree. Everyone stood or sat around that tree as Hayabusa and Kasumi started their explanation. Hayabusa grinned. "I'm glad all eight of you are here today, since a great destiny awaits you." he said. "Thrilling. Get on with it, HashAndSushi." Terry said with a critically low level of interest towards Hayabusa's speech. "Shut up, Terry." Mary said, who sat next to him. "First of all, you may all have noticed the great feeling when being here. Some have relaxed, some have come at peace and some have taken their relation beyond the wildest imaginations." Hayabusa looked at Link and Zelda as he said the last sentence. Link just smiled quickly and Zelda, who sat next to him, blushed as a healthy traffic light. "Wild AND deep!" Terry said chuckling. Before anyone could react, Hayabusa said: "And some of us have gotten a bit too 'funny' as a result of this." He paused for a moment as he looked at Terry, who just shrugged his shoulders. "Believe me, it has befallen Kasumi and me as well. And yes, you are all dead and yes, you are all in heaven. Each and everyone of you has been chosen to be our final hope. You are the best the universe has to offer. The best warriors the world has ever seen." Fox interupted Hayabusa: "Wait a minute. I don't get it. We're supposed to be the best, but we're all dead. And I can't believe we're the best. We're all just kids. I hate to admit it, but it's true. There are thousends of people better skilled and trained than we are. Why us?" "Because you are the Chosen Ones. The ones chosen by destiny to slay the evil that will come. Kasumi and I had been chosen as well, but we failed to pass the training. We lacked the skill. So It has chosen us to guide you." "Okay, that's great and all, but... What training? What evil? Who is It?" Kyo asked. "Like I said, you are the Chosen Ones. From the moment you were born, you have been bestowed upon with a great burden, but at the same time a great honor. I will tell you a story known by a handful of mortals which was passed down upon us by It. I will explain everything to you, just be patient. Eons ago, before the universe was created, before there was anything at all, two forces existed already. The forces had already been there for millions of centuries and kept each other in perfect balance. These forces have always been referred to as Good and Evil, Light and Darkness, Heaven and Hell, God and Satan..." Terry strikingly yawned, but Hayabusa ignored him. "But then one moment in the flow of eternal time, a very small shift ocurred right on the bordering line of the two forces. It was a very minor disturbance, but it had very large consequences. This minor shift caused an inbalance between the forces and in a fraction of a moment, the two broke apart, creating a huge explosion also known as the 'Big Bang'. And that way, the worlds were created. The two forces drove away even further from each other. However, there was one part which had survived the explosion. One small... island, as you would call it, which is still in perfect balance. And that's where we are now." Hayabusa paused for a moment and Fox said: "So this paradise is where good and evil are in perfect balance? How can that be? I just feel good and sense no evil whatsoever. No death, pain or grief. It doesn't make sense." "No, Fox. Like I said, the two forces grew distant from each other even further. When they are in balance, they form an aura of pure perfectness." "Wow." Zelda said. "That means that without evil, there can be no good, right?" "Exactly, Princess of Hyrule." Hayabusa said. "That doesn't make sense." Terry commented as he threw away his apple. "Then we wouldn't have to fight evil." Kyo added. "No, you have to fight. Since one of the two forces is dominant and tries to consume the other time after time, you have to keep on fighting to maintain the balance between Light and Darkness. Evil is always trying to beat Good. And the events which are about to happen will determine the fate of the entire universe!" Hayabusa said. "Right." Terry said. "And let me guess, in a few moments, Ganondorf is going to walk in and says to Link: 'Link, I am your father!' And then Link starts to scream: 'No!' And then they're going to fight in a galaxy far, far away and yada, yada, yoda..." Mary stood up and said to Terry: "I kind of believe you're still not really taking this seriously, Terry." she said as she crossed her arms in front of her chest. "No, of course not! Do you?" "Let Hayabusa finish his story, Terry!" Mary said annoyed. "Yes, Terry. Your father is counting on you." Hayabusa said. "D... dad?" Terry said surprised. "You... you knew dad?" he continued. "I still know him." Hayabusa said. "Is he... here?" Hayabusa shook his head. "Not here. But I promise you you'll meet him in time." Terry quietly sat down and kept silent. Dad... "Like I said, you are all going to fight evil. And therefor, time has been twisted to get Galford and Nakoruru in this time. Time is deadly for mortals, but a mere factor in this struggle, since you will fight pure Evil. And not just the agents of Evil. You have fought them before you arrived here." "Ganondorf?" Link asked. "Yes. And Zankurou. And Geese. And Athena." Hayabusa answered. "Zankurou!?" Galford said. "Geese Howard!?" Mary said. "Athena Asamiya!? That's impossible!" Kyo yelled. Hayabusa nodded. "It is true, Kyo. They have all been order by Evil to prepare the land for It's arrival." "That's ridicilous! Athena wouldn't betray me! She loves me!" Kyo yelled. "I'm sorry, Kyo. But she doesn't. She made you feel wanted, so you would miss her and experience sadness. Because the four had to create strong dark emotions from the Chosen Ones to feed Evil and make it strong enough to appear on the mortal world. You, the Chosen ones, are strong and are all very diverse, so that's why your emotions got amplified enough for it to grow strong enough." "So... my sadness about Athena's absense made Evil stronger?" Kyo asked. Hayabusa nodded. "If I find out you're lying, I'll rip your guts out with my bare hands!" Kyo said angry. Fox swallowed. Neither of anyone had ever seen Kyo so upset. "I'm telling the truth." Hayabusa said with his calm voice. He looked at Galford. "Evil has also fed on your fear to lose Nakoruru, Galford." He looked at Fox. "On your sudden outburst of rage against a good friend." He looked at Terry. "On your hatred against Ganondorf." He looked at Mary. "On your humiliation." He looked at Nakoruru. "On your sadness for losing Galford's love." He looked at Zelda. "On your fear for Ganondorf." He lastly looked at Link. "On your aggression, grief and hatred during the final fight." Hayabusa remained silent for a moment, allowing the eight people in front of him to fully comprehend it all. "Damn." Terry cursed. "I... I can't believe we let ourselves being controlled by our emotions." Fox commented. "You didn't know. Neither of us knew." Hayabusa said. "You had been supposed to keep your calm and control your emotions, but alas, Evil is now free to roam the mortal world. And you eight are going to stop it. In a few moments, a portal close to where you have all died will open and a huge army is going to enter the mortal world, turning the entire universe into hell. The soldiers of those armies are created from the horrors mortals think off. It will be unstopable." "Okay, break-time. How can eight kids possibly defeat something which his unstoppable? An entire army?" Link asked. "That is why you will undergo training. Very tough and very difficult. Right now, you can't even imagine the powers you are all capable off. What you can do know is but a tiny fraction of what you are able to do. That is why you are the Chosen Ones. You have been bestowed with great power, but it needs to hatch. And this training will make it hatch. But the training will take months and will be very tough. Are you all in for it?" "Wait a second! This invasion will commence in a few moments! We don't have the time!" Fox said. "Like I said, time is but a factor. These weeks you have been here have been but a few seconds in mortal time. You will also not age." Hayabusa answered. He paused for a moment and said: "I am forced to ask you all this. As you may have noticed, this is paradise. Living here is great. You know have two choices. Either fight and try to save the mortal plane or stay here for all eternity." "Forever?" Zelda asked, looking at Link. "Yes, forever. I will not blame you. It is a great place and if you go, you will meet countless unthinkable horrors." Link looked at Zelda. How he would love to stay here with her. This place was fantastic! He could make love with her evey day and not age. He could eat the fruits of the trees and drink the water from the wells. And what would he go back for? To save the people who despised him? To save the people who kicked him in the dirt? But on the other hand, he would save millions of innocent lives from hell, would this story all be true. But he believed Hayabusa. He looked at Zelda again. Into her big, blue eyes which looked at him with a questioning glance. He wanted to marry her and be the father of her children. He wanted to protect her and die of old age with her. It was a sudden thought, but it convinced him to fight. He looked at Hayabusa. "I'm going." he said. A smile appeared on Hayabusa's lips. "Then I go too. I don't want to leave you, Link. Never again. I've made that promise to myself when we were together again. I rather face my worst nightmares than loose you." Zelda said, looking at Link. Link caressed her cheek. "My brave babe..." he murmered. Hayabusa looked at Galford, who had been silent all the time. "Hey, when Evil threatens justice, I fight. I always have and I always will. Count me in." the young ninja said confident. "And you, Kyo?" Hayabusa asked. "Well, I feel really great here and all, but so far, I haven't really been of any use to the world. Might as well try to change that now. And you know how many girls you can get by being a hero?" Kyo said. "Did you forget about Athena that easily, Kyo? I don't buy that." Terry said. "Who said that I had forgotten about her? I still don't believe she's evil. But I'll find out in time." Kyo replied. "And what about you, buddy? Can we count you in?" Kyo asked Terry. "First of all..." Terry started. "I will be incredibly glad to be out of this stinking forest. Second, when there's ass to be kicked, you can always count me in. Third, I don't think I'll live another day hearing those two..." He pointed at Link and Zelda. "Double the entire worldpopulation. I don't think they'll have the time for it when we're in the middle of a battlefield, so I'm going down there and have pity on those who I'll meet in battle." Mary, who had in the mean time sat down, put her hand on Terry's head. "Then I'm going too." she said. "Someone has to watch over little Terry-berry-derry here, right?" she spoke at a tone spoken normally solely against three-year-olds. "Goe, goe, goe, goe... Isn't he sweet?" she continued. "Would you stop that? Don't touch me, nurse me, look at me... Heck, don't even breathe the same air I do!" Terry said annoyed. "Ah, isn't he cute when he's upset? Someone has to take care of this little fellow. And it might as well be me." "You're lucky I don't hit girls." Terry murmered. "And what about you, young McCloud?" Hayabusa asked, looking at Fox. "The way I see it..." Fox started. "You guys won't stand a chance without me. So warn the badguys, a McCloud is joining the frag!" he continued enthusiasticly. "Ha! I want to see who kills the most." Terry said challenging. "I'll double your score, Terry." Fox returned. Lastly, Hayabusa, who couldn't surpress a smile, looked at Nakoruru. "And you?" he asked. Nakoruru didn't look at anyone as she answered. "I... I'm staying here. It's so peaceful here. So quiet. I don't want to leave. I don't want to return to the busy earth where I get laughed at." "What!?" Terry nearly yelled. "Come on, Nakoruru!" Kyo said. Galford looked at the timid Human girl and sighed. "It is your choice, Nako. But you'll be here without us, your friends." he said with a calm voice. "I don't need anyone." Nakoruru said softly, agrivating Terry. And if you agrivated Terry, you would better have an expensive life-insurance. The American stood up and walked to the seated Nakoruru. "Okay, young lady." he started. "You're not going to sit here while we are busy saving the world. You're coming with us and that's final!" Zelda stood up as well. Terry's commanding voice reminded her of her father. "Leave her, Terry. It is her decision." she said. "And a very cowardly one!" Terry said after a moment of thinking. He walked back to his place and sat down. "It's not cowardice, is it, Nako?" Galford asked as he stroke Nakoruru's cheek. She used her hand to brush away his. "No, it's not." she said as she stood up and started to walk away, leaving a surprised Galford. After their deaths at sea, Nakoruru had become distant from him again, avoiding him whenever possible. Galford had been glad when Link, Kyo, Terry, Mary, Fox and Zelda had arrived. That had at least given him some people to talk to. He raised his fist at her. "Screw you, Nako!" he yelled angry. Perhaps it was better that she would stay here. Than he would finally be rid of her. Hayabusa sighed. From the ten Chosen Ones, only seven remained. And with the hard training, their numbers would dimish even further. 


	20. Practice makes perfect

Chapter 20: Practice makes perfect  
  
Terry stood in an open field with waving green grass and a peaceful little brook. He had his hands in his pockets and awaited the challenge Hayabusa had set for him. The ninjitsu-practising young man had told Terry to just hold his position on the field and then his training would commence. Terry yawned strikingly as he looked in the direction where his friends sat, close to the border of a forest. "I wonder what will come." Kyo said, looking at the nonchalant Terry. Terry had to wait a couple of minutes before someone or, better said, something, approached him. It walked with a hunchback and was a bit taller than Terry. His arms pulsated as if something underneath his skin was alive. His arms were long and the fingers were replaced with three tentacles. It had a faint yellowish skin and his long teeth hung down from his jawless head. His eyesockets were empty and it had no nose whatsoever. "Kill... me..." he said with a voice which seemed to come out from his stomach. "Jesus..." Terry murmered as he raised his hands out of his pockets. "What the heck is that thing?" Fox said, startled by the horrid creature's appearance. Hayabusa, who stood straight with his arms crossed in front of his chest, said: "One of the many beings you will face. One of the weakest." Zelda swallowed. Link noticed it and pulled her close to him. "That thing is no match for our Terry." he said, not entirely sure about that. Terry wasn't sure what to do at that moment. He preferred normal opponents. Humans. What did he had to do with this abomination? He didn't know. When he was nervous, or scared, he knew bad jokes made him cool down. "You're mother must love you." he said, a nervous grin appearing on his face. Without another warning, the being swiftly shot forward one of his arms, entangling Terry's neck with his tentacles. The creature pulled Terry closer to him and at the same time, a tongue of some sort came out of his mouth. It was long and held a very sharp spike at the end. Terry tried to break free as soon as he noticed that the creature's intentions were less than favorable. He moved his upperbody to the left and right, but to no avail. Link drew his sword and did a step forward. "We have to help him!" he said as he wanted to run to Terry's aid, but Hayabusa firnly said: "No. It is his training. Stay out of it." "What!? That thing is about to kill Terry, I..." "Won't do a thing." Hayabusa said. Something in the ninja's voice made Link step back and sheathe his sword. Terry was now close to being impaled by the creature's dancing tongue and dozens of possibilities to escape raced through his mind. Then he grabbed two of the tentacles which had ensnared him with his hands and gave a short, powerful pull. Now Terry was a strong man, but the adrenaline rush almost dubbled his strength. He ripped off both tentacle-like fingers, leaving the creature squirting dark-red blood about as he let go off Terry and waved his arm in pain. Terry dropped the two tentacles and cleaned his hands with his jeans as a habit. Not very smart, but he realised that too late. Bloodstains were hard to wash out, but that was a problem for later. He made a quick step forward and punched the screaming creature in his face. Or at least, that part of his body what resembled a face the most. He struck him another time and another, cracking open the creature's skull and making him collapse on the ground. Terry was panting from the sudden amount of adrenaline and his fists were covered in the blood of the creature. He chuckled quickly. "You weren't that tough." he said to the dying monster. His friends cheered, but Hayabusa kept his face in a neutral position. Terry walked to Hayabusa and said: "You're making it too easy for me, ninja-boy." "Perhaps, Terry. But can you take on millions of those at the same time?" was Hayabusa's cold response. "M... millions? Yeah, right..." Terry said with and uncomfortable grin on his face. "That's the amount you will face, Terry. And thousends of other different monster, who hunger for your blood." Hayabusa said calmly. Terry looked at Hayabusa for a moment. "Sometimes you scare me more that the worst monster I can imagine, Hayabusa." Terry said, finding the calm face of the ninja disturbing to say the least. "But I think you must know that, no matter what, we won't give up." he said firm. He looked at his friends. "Right, guys?" "I think you speak for all of us." Kyo said. Everyone agreed on that. They wouldn't stop, no matter how hard this training would be. Hayabusa was glad they were all so optimistic. But he wondered how long this optimism would last. The months that followed were hell four the seven Chosen Ones. They had to fight numerous monsters, some of which came straight out of their nightmares and fears. Even when the seven slept or ate, they weren't safe. They had to defend themselves continuesly from waves of enemies. But there was one thing which kept them all going. One thing only. And that was that they did it together. Whether it was Terry's big mouth that gave Fox that extra courage he needed, whether it was Link's touch that helped Zelda go on time after time, whether it was Galford's sense of justice that annoyed Terry so much that he delivered his anger on the enemy... The friends patched each other up, helped each other and supported each other. When one was about to give up, the other six would pull him or her up and helped him or her to regain the fighting spirit. They punched each other through it. Then one day, the monsters stopped appearing. Instead of monsters near the cabin, Hayabusa appeared. He walked towards the Chosen Ones who all stood outside the cabin. They all looked tired and hungry. "My God, the biggest horror of them all... What an ugly..." Terry muttered, loud enough for only Mary, who stood next to him, to hear it. She couldn't surpress a small chuckle. Hayabusa stopped in front of the seven and said: "Congratulations. You get one week to rest before your final test." Having said those mere words, he walked away again and disappeared into the woods. Terry put his hands in his sides. "What an ass. Where's the beer?" he nearly growled. He was a little... short-tempered because of the past few months. "Eh... Could this be it?" Fox said, pointing at the enormous pile of food and drinks which had suddenly appeared. It was all wrapped in plastic. "What a wicked world, dude." Galford murmered. "Whatever, justice-boy. I'm thirsty." Terry said as he walked to the pile and picked up a can of beer. He opened it and emptied it in no-time. He hadn't consumed anything but the natural food which was found in this world ever since he had gotten here. This had been his first beer in months. "Hm. Food which appears out of nowhere, monsters, Hayabusa..." Kyo said with a grin. "What a weird place." "Yeah. Especially Hayabusa freaks me out." Terry said as he grabbed another beer and tossed the empty can in the pile. "If I didn't know better, I'd say we're inside a fairy tale." Mary said with a slight sigh as she looked at Fox who studied a bag of French fries. "Cruel fairy tale." Terry said in a pause between his drinking. "Do you know beer on an empty stomach is bad for you?" Mary asked. "Yeah." Terry replied. He noticed that Link and Zelda had disappeared and sighed. "It looks like the fairy folk are mating again." he said. Now it was Mary's turn to sigh. "You talk like they're animals." "They fuck like they are." "Mind your language, Terry. They're just in love, Terry. A bit more respect, please." Mary said with a slight indignation in her voice. Terry chuckled. "I bet stiff Hayabusa would freak out if he would see a girl in a bra." "Looks of people can sometimes deceive, Terry." Mary said grinning. "Whatever." Terry replied. "I still have this feeling that we're in a story of some goofy writer who's out of inspiration and who just throws in stuff like that pile of food and who gets off on seeing Link and Zelda..." "Excuse me?" Mary said before Terry continued. "Writers are weird." Terry continued. "So you're going to offend writers too?" "Writers are stupid nerds who have no friends and just haven't anything to do all day." "That reminds me of someone..." Mary said, looking at Terry from the corners of her eyes. "Funny." Terry said as he joined Galford, Kyo, Fox and Mary for dinner. Fries and hamburgers were on the menu.  
  
Zelda sat down on the bed, impatiently wating for Link to begin. "Come on, Link. I want to get laid!" Zelda almost immediatly blushed as Link started to laugh. "Oops. Not very princess-like, huh?" Zelda said softly in shame. "Not really, but I don't really mind, babe." Link said, still chuckling a bit. "And above that, I think you deserve some special treatment for killing so many nasties." He crawled up on the bed and to above Zelda. He supported himself with his hands and knees as he pressed his lips against hers, thirsting for that sweet special Zelda-taste. When he moved back, Zelda smiled at him. "Come on, Link. I need you." she said sweetly. That voice made Link nearly rio off Zelda's cotton dress, but instead, he moved his hand underneath the piece of clothing. Zelda's eyes widened and her mouth fell open as she felt his hand at a sensative spot. She quickly started to undress Link. His sheathed sword fell with a heavy thud on the rug. It had slain a lot of enemies and would slay many more. But not now. Now it's owner was relaxing. Although... relaxing? A harmless little princess did that what thousends of monsters had been unable to do: Defeat him. Dead-tired, Link rolled off of Zelda and onto his back. He had managed that what no man in the universe would ever be able to manage. He had satisfied Zelda. But he had never failed her before. Zelda raised herself and looked at her lover, bopyfriend, protector, worshipper, hero, prince and servant with pride in her eyes. That look... Link loved it. That smile, that glorious sparkle in her eyes... He made her proud. She rested her head on his chest. "You make me happy." she said before they both drifted off into sleep.  
  
The week of peace passed away and the seven friends stood one day in front of Hayabusa again. He stood there calm as usual And no sign of Kasumi. As usual. "You all performed very well." Hayabusa started. "Ha! Don't tell me you're surprised?" Terry said, feeling great to have actually outwitted Hayabusa. The ninja was wise enough not to answer that. "This past week has been a week to relax. But also a week to release all of your powers. You seven are now the most powerful beings in the universe. Save for what will come through that portal." "No kidding?" Terry commented, not believing a thing of it. "To test your new powers, you will all get five last opponents." Hayabusa said before turning to Fox. "Young McCloud, you shall begin." "Eh... Okay." Fox said as he stepped forward. Hayabusa snapped with his fingers and the next moment, Fox was gone. No one really was surprised. Except for Terry. "Oh." he said. "He didn't turn in a pink, fluffy rabbit?" 


	21. Final tests

Chapter 21, part 1: Fox's dexterity  
  
Fox blinked his eyes as he noticed he stood in a room lit with candles. It had a marble black and white floor and walls made fromt the same material. The ceiling was high. The large room would make for an excellent fight. Fox noticed a big gate opening on the other side of the room. "I guess it's getting started." he murmered as he walked forward. And indeed, five beings entered the room through the opened gate. It were red humanoids with horns on their heads and clasws at the end of their arms and legs. Their big, yellowish eyes bulged out of their sockets and they ran swiftly towards Fox as they screamed fiendish cries. "Why can't it ever be a fluffy stuffed bear..." Fox murmered as he drew his gun. As soon as he aimed at one of the creatures, as soon as his adrenaline started to run, something seemed to take over. Which, of course, wasn't true. But he felt as if something happened to him, as if someone flicked a switch. He narrowed his eyes and his mind automaticly found the first creature's weakest spot. His eyes. Fox aimed his gun, held it steady and shot clean through the monster's left eye. Before the creature would collapse, Fox moved his gun a little and shot him through his right eye as well. The dustance was about fourty meters and it happened in a few microseconds. Fox amazed himself. The remaining creatures raced towards him with incredible speed as their comrade fell backwards with blood spirting out of his emptied eyeholes and brainfluid dripping out of the holes on the back of his head. Fox swiftly took out another creature with exactly the same method as the first. Then, he put his blaster away and started to run towards the three remaining beings, who had gotten pretty close to him in the mean time. In a short moment, Fox's speed increased incredibly, far exceeding the speed of light. Right before he would crash into one of the monsters, the atoms of his body split up and shot straight through the creature. They tore open the molecular structure of the monster, making his body vaporise in thin air, before they came together and formed Fox's body again. Fox nearly stumbled against the wall as he recovered from it. He stood on the other side of the room. He had traversed fourty meters in less than a nanosecond! He turned around and saw that the intense heat created by the speed of his atoms was burning up the last two creatures rapidly. They screamed as they burned and melted away before his eyes. Fox could barely believe it. He hadn't really fought yet. He could only imagine the power of his fists and feet in melee combat. He closed his eyes for a moment... and stood amidst his friends again. He dropped to his knees and then rolled onto his back. "This... this is incredible..." he said to his concerned friends. "Fox has passed the final test. Who's next?" Hayabusa asked, no emotion on his face.  
  
Chapter 21, part 2: Mary's agility  
  
Mary walked through the room towards the gate she saw on the wall on the other side. She had her hands in the pockets of her green jacket which she wore over her red top. She wore light-blue jeans and sturdy boots. She was chewing on a piece of gum to help her calm her nerves. She wondered whether Fox had been in the same room, since she saw no marks of combat. No bodies, no blood. Nothing. She noticed the gate in front of her opening and she stopped her pace. Something was coming. She removed her hands from her pockets and prepared herself. Exactly the same monsters Fox had encountered came running from the hole in the wall. Five of them. "What on earth..." Mary murmered as she let the creatures approach. The first one was with her very quickly and hacked towards her. But Mary simply evaded it by leaning back. This went easy. She let the other monsters approach and hack at her, since she easely evaded them by ducking, stepping aside or jumping. She automaticly felt where she would be hit, even while surrounded. And her body quickly responded by moving to the right side. Her jacket nearly flew from her unnatural swift motions. She could stand there for houres, but she would have to defeat them to finish this test. She grabbed one of the monster's outstretched arm and faced the being with her back. She broke the creature's arm by slamming it on her shoulder. It broke as if it were dry wood. She turned, twisted the being's body around and grabbed the creature at its neck from behind. She then started to spin her own body. Slowly at first, but rapidly increasing in speed. The creature screamed as he spinned around and around, faster and faster as his legs struck his fellow monsters and made them soar through the air, even beheading two of them. At top speed, Mary let go of the creature and it flew through the air, all the way through the room, and smashed into the wall with an incredible force, creating a large hole and killing the being instantly. Mary looked at the debris created by her actions: Dust and loose rocks flew about. The two monsters who had survived, walked to Mary, unable to run because they were wounded. Mary however, ran to one of them and jumped. She entangled his neck with her legs and took him with her for a ride. While still in the air, she twisted her body around, breaking the monster's neck. The next moment, Mary hit the wall with her feet. She let go of the body of the creature and used her feet to press her away from the wall. She flew towards the last creature and, as she passed him in mid-air, she grabbed his head with both hands and turned her body, so that she flew past him from behind. This motion twisted the neck of the monster so far, that his neck broke and he died instantly. Mary let go of his head and rolled onto the floor. She stood up slowly as the monster's body dropped next to her. This was incredible! She felt like Superman, Batman and Spiderman in one! She smiled at that thought and then suddenly, she stood amidst her friends again. "Liked it?" Fox asked with a smile. "Yeah. I did." Mary said. She felt incredibly confident.  
  
Chapter 21, part 3: Link's swordmanship  
  
Link's boots echoed through the large room. He had seen the gate and calmly walked to it. His sword was sheathed on his back, but he felt a bit naked without his shield. As soon as the gate opened, he drew his sword and let the tip drop to the floor. It made a sharp, but soft sound as it collided with the marble. He wasn't really surprised when he saw the red monsters charging him from the darkness behind the opened gate. "How cute..." he just said as he reached for a sharp blade shaped in the form of a boomerang which hung from his belt. He had found the weapon somewhere during their training and he had decided to take it with him. He had practiced with it to perfection. Basicly, it were two crescent blades held together by a hold. Link grabbed the edge of one of the blades with his thumb and indexfinger. He pulled it from the leather belt and took a throwing position. "Go fetch!" he yelled as he threw the sharp boomerang. Right before he threw it, his mind calculated the best path for the boomerang to go and send a signal to his arm how to throw. The boomerang soared through the air gracefully and, without any effort at all, cleaned the heads of two monsters neatly from their shoulders. As this was happening, Link ran towards the remaining three opponents. His bodily energie was raging between him and his sword as the weapon and the wielder became one. Link charged into the first unlucky opponent he encountered he raised his sword and struck down, tearing through the creature's hide as if it were a wet paper. Link completely divided the being in two. A left side and a right side. It went so easy that Link barely used any strength at all. The monster died instantly. Link noticed that one of the two remaining monsters attacked him. Link wanted to parry the being's clawy, but instead of parrying it, the creature chopped his hand off on the blade. Link was surprised to say the least. He hadn't done anything but holding his blade in a defensive position. This was awesome! He suddenly sensed something and he raised his hand. Just in time to catch his boomerang.He quickly put the object back under his belt. The wounded creature stumbled backwards, but Link was merciless upon him. He tensed his muscles and stepped towards him. He felt a great energy being sucked from his body into his sword. He then furiously started to chop into the creature. And something happened. His blade, which cracked under the presence of a strange force, shot lightning into the being's body. Link hacked and sliced, and with each cut, a voltage of more than one hundred billion volt shot through the monster's veins. The being was long by dead, but Link kept hacking and hacking. The creature's body shook from the voltage and remained in his standing position because of Link's slicing. Then, Link grabbed his sword with both hands and hauled it backwards before striking the being one last time. A terrible thunder sounded and an enormous amount of energie released from the sword. A huge pile of electrical energy filled the room killing the last monster which was about to attack Link, and vaporising all the bodies in the blink of an eye. When the energy changed into heat and disappeared from the room, Link was still standing there, holding his sword with both hands. He was panting and sweat stood on his forehead. "By the Goddesses..." he murmered.  
  
Chapter 21, part 4: Terry's strength  
  
From the seven friends, Terry was the most confident in his fighting skills. If a Hylian, a Lylatan and a girl had passed the tests, then so would Terry. That's what he was telling himself. Of course there was a slight feeling of nervousness was in his body as his old sporting shoes made the sound of old, stretching leather across the room, but he was pretty sure it wouldn't be that hard. "Oh boy." he said excited as the gate opened for him as well. He was least surprised when he noticed what kind of beings charged him the next moment. In fact, it made him sigh tiresomely. All those uglies were getting on his nerves. Why couldn't he fight some stunningly beautiful naked women for once? The monster-type opponents were turning into a cliché. Oh well. No one said it was going to be easy. Or fun. Not that hitting women was considered fun by Terry, but hitting filthy monsters was dirty and... Terry sighed for a second time. Those useless thoughts which occurred sometimes in his mind... Bloody annoying. He raised his fists and prepared himself as he let the beings approach. "Come on..." he murmered as the first monster jumped towards him with a great strength. Terry's eyes narrowed and he jumped up as well. But instead of approaching the being normally, he turned his body completely around so that he flew up- side-down with his feet towards the higher situated monster. "Rising Tackle!" Terry then yelled. As if Terry's body was toying with gravity, he shot up with an abnormal speed as he started to spin his body around, forming a living drill. He spun and spun, rapidly going faster and faster. The next moment, he struck the jumping creature. Terry's drilling movement went so fast, that, as soon as he planted his feet in the monster's stomach, he drilled almost literally through him. His spinning feet tore open the creature's skin, flesh and organs, ripping him in two. Terry returned to the floor, only to see him standing between monsterblood and organs. "Great..." he murmered as he noticed that his shoes were covered in the disgusting contents of the now-deceased monster. However, there was no time to be wasted. The four other monsters were swarming around Terry and they didn't seem very pleased by Terry's latest action. Terry didn't like the position he was in, so he quickly stepped forward and grabbed a monster at his throat. He pulled him up without much efford and tossed him away before he quickly ran out of the threatening circle. He turned around and saw two monsters standing close to each other. The one he had tossed away slowly stood up, while another one was too far behind the first two. Terry tapped his cap with his index finger before he ran towards the two monsters. He moved his fist beckwards before striking the first being he encountered against his chest. The monster seemed completely paralised as Terry kept his fist against the creature's chest. Terry then put his free hand on his upper arm and his fist started to actually smoke. "So long, ugly." he murmered as his fist started to shake. Two other monsters came very clost to Terry, but hte next moment, the American's fist started to actually explode. "Buster Wolf!" Terry yelled as a big explosion occured from his fist. A flaming shockwave shot from his fist and blasted away the three beings closest to him in an instant. Their smoking, burning bodies flew through the room and smashed against the walls, decorating them with sticky blood. Now there was only one monster left. He ran towards Terry, furious as he was. Terry calmly walked towards the being. The monster slashed in Terry's direction with his right claw as soon as he was close enough. But Terry simply grabbed the beings arm with his left and, as he pulled the monstrousity closer, chopped his head off with a powerful blow of his right one. Terry nonchalantly dropped the being's dead body, right after the head, after a long travel, had made contact with the floor. "What a bunch of softies." Terry murmered.  
  
Chapter 21, part 5: Zelda, Princess of Destiny  
  
From the seven friends, young Zelda was the least confident. She carefully walked down the hall. She had to do it alone now. Link wasn't here to protect her. But so far, everyone had passed, so she couldn't let off. She had to fight well so she could join Link in the battles that would come. She was determined not to lose. But she was very nervous at the same time. She had always been able to hide a little behind Link's broad shoulders. But he wasn't here now. But he was counting on her. She had to go through with this! She feared she hadn't really put on the most comfortable of clothing. The dress she wore would perhaps get in the way. But there wasn't really much the young princess was able to do about it now. Then shivers ran up her spine as she noticed the gate opening. She swallowed as she saw the horrid creatures who emerged from it and started to run towards her. A sudden urge to run tried to take over her actions, but she knew she had to make a stand. Or die. Her hands were nervously shaking. She had never really fought such beings without Link by her side and she... No. She had to calm down. She could take them. All she needed to do was concentrate and let loose a rain of devastating spells on the beings. But it would perhaps take too long! But she had no choice. It was now or never! She closed her eyes. She had to concentrate. And quickly. But much to her surprise, she felt... different. More... powerful. She heard the scream of one of the monsters closing in and she quickly opened her eyes in fear. She held her hand in front of her and turned away, knowing this would be the end. She hadn't prepared a spell. She would die! The monster hacked at her and Zelda looked up one last time to see the sharp claw closing in. "I'm sorry, Link." she murmered, right before the claw would crash into her. But... It didn't. It got stopped by an invisible barrier. Zelda was surprised by this. She hadn't had the time to cast a barrier around herself. This was weird... Where-ever this barrier came from, it gave her the time she needed to cast a spell. She closed her eyes and concentrated, not being disturbed by the clawing of the monsters against the barrier. She was planning to cast a smiple ball of fire to shoot at one of the creatures. It was a simple spell and wouldn't take a lot of time to prepare in her mind. When she opened her eyes again, her hand was glowing. She looked at one of the creatures and made a throwing gesture with her hand. She expected a small fireball to emerge and push the bing back, but what came then was more than she could have ever dared to think about. Instead of a simple ball of fire, an intense wall of all-consuming flame shot out of her petite hand, covering the entire length of the room and roasting, burning, melting, incinerating the five opponents in the blink of an eye. The room cooled down and the smell of roasted meat penetrated Zelda's nose. This... This immense power... She had killed, murdered, in a moments notice, without really having to do anything for it. Those beings hadn't stand a chance! Zelda felt... terrible. She sank to her knees. She was frightened by this huge power she wielded. She was so incredibly scared. She was just too strong. A murderous witch! She started to cry and her body shook with each sob. "Young princess." a voice sounded. Zelda looked up and saw Hayabusa standing in front of her. "Please get up, your Majesty." he said respectful. Zelda shook her head. "I'm a monster, Hayabusa. An all- consuming monster!" she said with a shaking voice which showed her dread. "No, princess. You are not." Hayabusa shortly said. After a brief pause, he continued. "You are indeed the most powerful of all the Chosen Ones. Even more powerful than all of us together." "I cannot take the responsibility. I can now kill without effort. I'm a filthy murderer." "You have killed before, young sorceress." "I know! And I see now how evil it was. I'm no better than Ganondorf." Zelda said as she stood up, tears still in her eyes. "No, princess. An evil person is someone who fights for his own ideals. Ganondorf fought to increase his own power and wealth. You are pure, Zelda." "How can I possibly be pure when I murder living beings!? Who am I to judge over life and death?" "No one is, Zelda. Fate decides who stays. And fate decides who goes." "But then it doesn't matter what I do. You cannot change fate..." Zelda said, calming down a little, but still upset. "That's what people think, princess. But fate, destiny, is something people CAN control. But only the people with willpower. People like you, Zelda." "I've noticed. I just sealed their fate." Zelda said sad, looking at the burned corpses around her. "No. THEY sealed their own fate. It was their destiny to die. And they hadn't had the willpower to change that destiny. Your heart is pure. You know true friendship. You'd sacrifice yourself for your friends. And you are the ONLY Chosen One who can really change your destiny." "Link! Can't he change his destiny?" Zelda said, affraid something awful was awaiting the man she loved. Hayabusa quickly chuckled. "See, Zelda? You worry for the safety of others. You are pure of heart and not evil. You will have to kill a lot. But you do it for the love you charish and for the friends you have. And you will not let Link down, for the love which binds you is a very powerful force. More powerful than any force in the universe. Remember that, princess. And defend that force with your life." Zelda suddenly felt a lot better. She had to fight for Link. Perhaps she could influence HIS destiny. And safe him from a dark fate. "Okay, Hayabusa. I will. And thanks." she said, before she closed her eyes and warped herself away. She didn't know where to go to, but she focussed on Link. When Zelda had disappeared, Hayabusa muttered: "The fate of the universe is on your shoulders... Princess of Destiny."  
  
Chapter 21, part 6: Galford's way of justice  
  
"Come and meet the blade of justice, vile demon!" Galford enthusiasticly yelled as he drew his sword and let the monsters approach him. He closed his eyes for a moment to take in the tension, but when he opened them again, he stood in a completely different position in the room. This startled him for a moment, but somehow, his mind seemed to get what happened. He closed his eyes again and this time, he stood in the corner of the room, far from the confused monsters. This had to be some kind of swift warp-power or something he now possessed. This certainly was cool! Now he just had to aim... He closed his eyes and opened them again, looking straight in the eyes of a blood-thristy monster. "Shit!" he yelled, swiftly ducking to avoid being ripped to pieces by a demon-claw. He quickly slashed the creature's belly open, pouring the monster's most recent dinner all over the floor. Then he closed his eyes and quickly warped to a safe distance. This time he had to concentrate. He closed his eyes and... Yes! He faced a monster's back this time! He cut open the creature with inhuman swiftness, exposing his spine. "Yech, why don't they make this things more sturdy?" Galford said in disgust. He quickly warped to the next monster, but instead of appearing behind him, he tried something else. When he opened his eyes, he appeared to be... in the air, a few meters above the being he had focussed on. This took Galford by surprise, but he recovered soon enough to point his sword down. Helped by gravity, Galford crashed into the monster and the blade easily went through the creature's skull, before tearing off an arm as well as Galford landed on the ground without too much trouble. Normally a fall of a few meters would at least hurt, but Galford didn't feel a thing. Now there were only two monsters left, so Galford decided to do something special this time. Just for fun. He warped to behind the first monster and punched him so hard in his back, that he flew up in the air. Then he quickly warped to face the second monster. Before the being could react, Galford made a swift cut in his leg, weakening the monster as it screamed. Galford then grabbed the being at it's arm and threw him towards his comrade with abnormal strength. The beings flew towards each other and collided neatly. The one Galford had thrown flew much faster and took the first monster with him in his flight. Galford then warped and reappeared in mind-air, on the trajectory of the soaring monsters. He pointed his blade and, without efford, impaled both monsters on it. The monsters died immediatly, but their bodies almost took Galford with them as well, so he quickly removed his blade from their bodies and warped to the ground. He was just in time to see the two lifeless bodies fall onto the ground as if they were one. He smiled a little. "Don't mess with the blind babe Justice, suckers." he said. He then chuckled over his own comment. What was that all about? He had certainly gotten more fanatic over the time. But he felt relaxed as well. Perhaps because his mind had actually gotten off Nakoruru for those past months. All the fighting had made him almost forget her. Well, he did feel a heck of a lot better. He would better not think about it anymore. She had decided to stay here. Perhaps it was indeed for the best. He abruptly stopped thinking about it as soon as he looked into Terry's sarcastic face again. "Don't tell me YOU passed as well, justice-boy?" Terry said challenging. "Well, I sure did, Terster." Galford said as soon as he was over it that he was completely somewhere else now. "Damn." Terry cursed. He looked at Kyo. "I guess it's your turn, buddy." he said. "Yeah. I know." Kyo merely said.  
  
Chapter 21, part 7: Kyo's fire  
  
Kyo sensed the flame. Felt it. In his blood. It was burning. He was ready to meet whatever would come. Small flames danced between his fingertips and his eyes bolstered a look of fire. He felt great as he sensed a burning in his body. He was so overwhelmed by this feeling that he barely noticed the five last monsters attacking him. They were far enough, though, so it was no problem. Despite this strange feeling Kyo was experiencing, he raised his fists and prepared for the small group of enemies. He had heard from Fox how his sensed had gotten multiplied, he had heard from Mary how agile she had gotten... It made him confident. He had figured great powers indeed were released amongst the Chosen Ones and he would make no exception to that. He prepared himself to face the five opponents. But right before he would collide with the first one, right before the battle would begin, the monsters suddenly drew back, their claws in front of their faces, screaming. Kyo was surprised. He had done nothing yet. But then his eyes noticed something strange. The air... The air around him was... vibrating. As if there was some sort of heat-source nearby... Then he got it. HE was the heat-source! His body was so warm, that the monsters had to back away from it in order not to get burned. This was amazing! This was against all laws of physics. It was just impossible! But it was true... Kyo slowly walked towards the monsters, who were still backing away from him. Time to test his new powers... The first two creatures overcame their fears and jumped towards Kyo. Sometimes fear can indeed save your life, for Kyo caught both monsters with his hands, one hand per monster, and blasted them away with some sort of flaming geysers which shot from his hand. The pillars of flame engulfed their enemies first before launching them away. And Kyo had barely needed to do a thing. Just raise his hands. He walked to the remaining monsters and opened his hand in front of him. A flame shot out almost immediatly and burned in the palm of his hand. He put his other fist in his flaming hand and both his fists caught fire. With burning fists, he attacked the monster which was closest to him. He swiftly punched him in his stomach and almost immediatly, his fist burned straight through the being's body. He turned around and kicked the monster behind him away as he punched the third one in his face. The temperature of his fists was so high, that the monster's brainfluid actually started to boil and with an unhealthy explosion of blood, bonepieces and brain, his head exploded moments after making contact with Kyo fist. The last monster, which Kyo had kicked away, walked backwards as Kyo turned to him. Kyo raised a flame in his hand and wanted to throw a ray of fire towards him, but he didn't. He saw... fear in the monster's eyes. Fear to die. Kyo slowly lowered his arm and extinguished the flame. He lowered his head as the monster backed against the wall and started to make strange sounds. Sounds which seemed like an odd form of crying. "I'm sorry." Kyo murmered. "But you all left me no choice." He suddenly realised that with such a great power that he wielded, an even greater responsibility was required. But was he able to handle that responsibiliy? He looked around for a moment. Bodyparts were scattered everywhere and his fists were covered in blood. He sighed. He had to take the responsibility. Whether he liked it or not. There was a universe to save. Suddenly, the cold hall had made way for the lush meadows with his friends. Kyo almost immediatly looked at Hayabusa. Had he failed the test? "Kyo has passed the final test." Hayabusa said, as if he had read Kyo's mind. This was followed by cheering from the six friends. Everyone had passed! 


	22. Their mission commences

Chapter 22: Their mission commences...  
  
Terry felt great. Really, really great. He had officially outplayed Hayabusa. The American was stronger, smarter and definetly better looking. At least, that was Terry's opinion.  
  
The truth was that Hayabusa didn't really care. He overwatched the paradise from a hill. He had been standing there with his arms crossed for nearly all day long. He did feel defeated on one side, but there were far greater things to worry about. He knew that the seven Chosen Ones had to fight countless difficult battles from that point on. He doubted whether they were really ready to face an all-scale, bloody, terrible war which would cost the lives of so many. He especially worried about young Zelda. She was very fragile. Both physically as well as mentally. True, she had indeed Link to rely on, but she would face so many horrible things. And Terry had a big mouth, but he was unable to control his emotions. Would he remain calm if he would see a soldier with his legs torn off lying in the middle of no-mans-land? Or would he rush out to save that man and get himself killed? Hayabusa had the most confidence in Fox. Fox was calm and reliable. Perhaps the Lylatan would be able to lead the team and keep it together. Perhaps. But the Chosen Ones were still kids. And you don't send kids to fight a war.  
  
Terry took a sip from his bottle of beer as he bounced the basketball between his free hand and the pavement. His cap was flipped backwards as was his custom when he was holding a basketball, and he wasn't wearing his red jacket. He was shooting hoops as Mary watched him, leaning against the pole. Fox was lying on his back on the gras, chewing on a straw. Next to him lay Link, one arm wrapped around Zelda's waist, who was listening to his heartbeat. That sound kind of relaxed her. She was a bit tense. Nervous. Kyo was leaning against a tree not far from the basketballcourt. He was practicing to balance a twig on his finger and then burn it to ashes. The first part was the hardest. Galford was sitting against the same tree and enjoyed the sun which peeked through the leaves. Everything was extremely relaxed. The monotonous sounds of the basketball hitting the board, the occasional puffing sound made by Kyo as he roasted another piece of dry wood, the chewing of Fox, the singing of birds, the blowing of the wind through the trees, the occasional kiss between Link and Zelda... It was all so relaxed... So peaceful... Except for the loud curse which sometimes escaped Terry's mouth after he missed the ring by inches. Other than that, everything was quiet.  
  
But the minds of the youngsters were not so calm. Fox was a bit affraid of what would come. They would all not have gotten so powerful if it weren't for a reason. Galford was constantly thinking of Nakoruru. He would have to leave her behind. And that hurt. Zelda was wondering whether friends of hers back on Earth had died. Impa, Donkey Kong... Peach... Link was solely affraid something would happen to Princess Zelda, since he had no friends to worry about. Well, perhaps Donkey, but the monkey was able to take care of himself. Terry desperately wanted to kill more monsters than Galford. He had just had to! He wasn't going to let that justice-lover beat him! Mary was just jealous at that moment. Jealous of Link and Zelda. Of their happiness. It wasn't fair. And Terry's nonchalant look didn't really help to make things better. Kyo was sort of relaxed. He still felt the fire burning. And it felt great. He didn't carry the flame, he WAS the flame.  
  
Suddenly, Hayabusa came walking out of nowhere. "It is time." he said. Terry lost his concentration by this and missed. "Damn you, Hayabusa!" he cursed. "Ah, watch that mouth, Terry!" Mary said, catching the ball. She threw it hard in Terry's stomach, after which she walked past him to Hayabusa. "What's wrong with you?" Terry asked surprised. "Figure that out yourself, smartass." Mary said angry. "Girls..." Terry sighed. Link helped Zelda up as a real gentleman, agrivating Mary even more. But there was no point in trying to get even near Terry. He was distant from her, hostile even. But how come she had fallen for him in the first place. He was ill-mannered, rude, impolite, simple-minded, childish, handsome, brave, strong... A real man... But she remembered how he had cried, really cried, when she had been in the hospital. That had to mean something, right? Perhaps. Perhaps. But thinking of it made her feel a little better. She had been acting childish.  
  
The seven Chosen Ones gathered around Hayabusa as he started to speak: "You seven are all very different from each other."  
  
"Thank God..." Terry commented.  
  
Hayabusa, as would every other clever man, ignored him and continued: "Different and yet the same. You strive for one goal. To bring peace and balance back to the universe. I'm affraid I cannot help you beyond this point. But I wanted to grant you all the best of luck. And you have to remember that, not matter what horrible things will await you, you must go for your main goal. You must slay the Evil that's going to emerge. Slay it and restore the balance. When you return to earth, weeks will now have been passed, to right before the point where the portal opens. Be careful and come out of it alive and in good health." Hayabusa spoke calmly, soothing the youngsters in front of him. He made a gesture with his hands and a portal opened, about the same one Terry had seen in the bank. "When you go through there, you will all never be able to return here. We will never meet again. When you die now, you will simply cease to exist. " Hayabusa then said. He seemed sad.  
  
Link walked to him and put his hand on Hayabusa's shoulder. "Don't worry, Hayabusa. We won't die."  
  
"I trust you won't, Link."  
  
Link walked to the portal and carefully touched the surface with his gloved hand. The surface ruffled as if it were water. He moved his hand back and closed it. This was it. He had to leave this paradise. He looked around one more time and then noticed Nakoruru. She stood in the distance next to a tree and carefully studied the events. Link raised his hand to greet her, but she swiftly disappeared from sight. Link just sighed and shook his head. Suddenly, Galford dashed away from the group.  
  
"What the..." Terry yelled and he wanted to run after Galford, but Kyo quickly stopped him.  
  
"Let him, Terry. He has to be able to say good-bye."  
  
Terry felt that Kyo's hand was warmer than normal and he backed away a little. "Cool down, will ye?" he said surprised.  
  
"Sorry. I can't help it." Kyo said with a grin.  
  
"And you think the girls who you'll get when we save the world will like that?" Terry said, grinning no less.  
  
"I think they'll be like wax in my hands..." Kyo said smart.  
  
As Terry wanted to return an answer and Fox started to join the conversation under the protest of Zelda, who thought it wasn't a way to treat girls like some kind of treasure, followed by Link's laughing, Galford ran through the forest and met up with Nakoruru, who sat on a log. She was facing him with her back.  
  
"We... we're leaving." Galford murmered, not knowing what else to say.  
  
"Fine." Nakoruru said impolite.  
  
"Will you... miss me somehow?"  
  
Nakoruru hesitated. "A little." she answered, but with a lot softer tone than before.  
  
"Thank you." Galford said as he made a short, respectful bow to her. He then decided to leave her. Staying longer with her would hurt too much. But he did remember what Hayabusa had just said. He would never return here again. He would never be able to see her again. It was best if he would just turn around and walk away, but he just couldn't. He just couldn't. He walked to her and quickly kissed her on her cheek from behind. "I'll miss you." he murmered, right before he received a hard slap from Nakoruru, making him back away in surprise.  
  
"Leave." Nakoruru said harsh.  
  
Galford then did walk away. He experienced pain in his heart, but it was obvious Nakoruru didn't want anything to do with him anymore.  
  
"Hey, come on, justice-boy. Hurry up!" Terry's voice sounded through the peaceful paradise. Galford could stay here and try to make it up to Nakoruru. He would have eternity for that. Eternity in this paradise... He stood still and looked around. It was so peaceful... So nice... He then gave himself a mental slap. His friends needed him. There was a universe to be saved. And above that, he had given himself a promise a long time ago, that he would fight evil anywhere. And he wouldn't break that promise now. He started to run back to the group and was greeted by an annoyed sigh of Terry.  
  
Link was the first who wanted to step into the portal, but Zelda quickly grabbed his hand.  
  
"We're going together." she spoke sweetly.  
  
"Okay, babe." he said smiling. They carefully stepped into the portal, into the liquid-like surface and then disappeared completely, not noticing the face Terry made towards them.  
  
Kyo then wanted to step through, but Terry pulled him away from the portal at his shoulder, nearly making him stumble backwards. "Men first." the American said as he straightened his baseballcap and stepped into the portal.  
  
Kyo sighed as he shook his head and stepped through the portal as well.  
  
"Boys." Mary sighed as she too, entered the portal.  
  
Galford wanted to step through as well, but turned to Hayabusa first and raised two fingers, his index and middle, to in front of his face and said: "Nin."  
  
"Nin." Hayabusa returned as he made the same gesture.  
  
As soon as Galford disappeared into the portal, Fox wanted to walk towards it as well, but Hayabusa stopped him. "Young McCloud..." he started, making Fox turn around to him.  
  
"Watch after the other six, okay? They're still kids."  
  
"As am I, Hayabusa." Fox said grinning.  
  
"You are the most capable as a leader, Fox. Bring them all home safely."  
  
Fox nodded. "I will, Hayabusa. Farewell."  
  
"Farewell, Fox-san." Hayabusa said, making a respectful bow towards Fox.  
  
Fox returned the gesture before he walked away from Hayabusa and carefully stepped into the portal. He wondered what he would meet on the other side. The portal closed behind him, leaving Hayabusa behind.  
  
He crossed his arms in front of his chest and sighed as he looked down. He was incredibly worried. But he suddenly felt a woman's hands massageing his shoulders.  
  
"It's going to be all right, Hayabusa-san." Kasumi said comforting.  
  
Hayabusa turned to her. "Perhaps you're right. I just feel guilty for not being able to join them."  
  
"Forget about it for a moment, Hayabusa-san." Kasumi said softly. She moved her lips closer to his, forcing a deep, passionate kiss.  
  
The kissing couple was studied from afar by Nakoruru. She had tears in her eyes. She had made the wrong decision. 


	23. The outbreak of the War

Chapter 23: The outbreak of the War  
  
The Human soldiers which had surrounded the portal all stared in complete surprise at the sky. Most of them had never seen this sight before. But general Banderas was calm under it. The telegram he had received from Washington had relieved his spirit a bit. Earth would not have to face it's worst nightmare alone. The sky almost trembled under the loud noise of engines. Huge spaceships entered the earth's atmosphere and that wasn't possible without the necessary verbal violence. The ground shook and the soldiers all stared at the armada of Lylatan ships which got redirected to a large empty field just outside of the Human camp. It was a huge sight. It seemed as though the entire Lylatan army was present. The Apache helicoters had the job to land everything safely. The Lylatan fighters which had been escorting the bigger ships landed pretty smoothly. And the pilots stepped out and got greeted by several Human soldiers who were over their surprise.  
  
Even as the ships were landing, Human convoys kept arriving from all sides, reïnforcing the already huge amount of material and men. Armies from all over the world were sent to that one place, though nobody knew why. The fields around the threatening portal were fortified and soon, it looked like a fortress. Armies from Japan, China, America, Germany, France, Canada, Australia and Russia were there. But also the smaller military countries such as Korea, Egypt, Belgium and Greece were present.  
  
Elia walked to the landingspot of the flagship of the armada. It was an enormous ship! the length was at least four times that of a footballfield. Fortunately, there was enough room on the field for the ship to land. Dust flew about and the men had to step back because of the turbulence of the landing-motors of the ship. When, after several minutes, the ship finally stood on the ground, a door opened and General Pepper, a dog-like Lylatan, exited the ship, flanked by two Lylatan soldiers. A crow and a lizard. Elia walked to the Lylatans and saluted the general, who returned the gesture.  
  
"Glad to see you arrived safe and sound, general." Elia said.  
  
"Yes, I think you can do with a little help here. It looks as if your entire planet is in motion all of the sudden." Pepper said as the two commanding officers started to walk towards the portal. The two men came in sight of the portal and stopped as general Pepper stared in utter disbelief at the huge object which imbued him with fear. "Wouldn't your planet be if you'd see such things on your soil?" Elia asked. Pepper remained speechless...  
  
"Goddamnit, Fox, take your filthy tail and get the hell off me!" Terry yelled out loud. Fox swiftly stood up from Terry and clumsily fell backwards. When he had exited the portal, he had fallen on Terry. A thing the American did not really like.  
  
"I'll remember not to bend over when you're around!" Terry said angry as he stood up. "Now where the hell is my cap?" Terry continued, as soon as he noticed that his faithful cap was no longer on his head anymore.  
  
Fox noticed it lying next to him and picked it up. He stretched his arm to Terry so that he could reach it.  
  
Terry rudely snatched the cap from Fox's hand and put it on his head. "I hope it's not infected!" he said.  
  
In a moment of anger, Fox drew his gun and aimed it at Terry. The Human backed away, but said: "And what were you planning to do with that? Shoot me?"  
  
"Hey, stop that!" Kyo, who just came running towards the scene, said. "Just what were you thinking to do with that, Fox?" Kyo then asked.  
  
Fox stood up and put his gun away. "I'm sorry." he muttered.  
  
"Hmph." Terry said as he wanted to walk away.  
  
"Terry!" Kyo said with an angry undertone in his voice.  
  
"Okay, okay, I'm sorry. Jeez." Terry swiftly said.  
  
Fox took this comment as an apology and turned to Kyo. More important things were in order now. "Where's the rest, Kyo?" he asked.  
  
Kyo just shrugged his shoulders. "Dunno. We got seperated. Thanks to Terry's loud voice, I was able to find you two, but no one else."  
  
Fox looked around. They were in a plain-like environment, close to the edges of a forest where Kyo had just came running from. Fox didn't know how wide the area was where the seven had been teleported to, but since no one else had came running towards Terry's loud voice, he assumed they would have to search for a needle in a haystag.  
  
"Well, if you hear bumping sounds then you've found the princess and fairy boy." Terry said at a more or less humiliating tone.  
  
"Terry!" Fox and Kyo yelled both at the same time.  
  
"Okay, okay. Let's just go and find the rest." Terry said, excusing himself a little.  
  
"Right. Let's split up. We return to this point before the sun sets." Kyo suggested.  
  
"No." Fox quickly said. "Remember what Hayabusa said? The portal is about to open. We do not have the time. We're going to search for that portal or anything which may look like some sort of entrance. I think the others will do the same. Let's go."  
  
"Right, smartass. If you'd like to tell us which way to go." Terry said.  
  
"Eh..." Fox started, but his voice quickly got overwhelmed by the sound of a helicopter which flew over their heads. Fox could see the cannons and more weaponry. He grinned as soon as the Apache was out of sight. "I think it's that way." he said, pointing in the direction of where the helicopter went.  
  
Link and Zelda walked through a wood-like area. It wasn't too densely dotted with trees, it was no forest. They had stepped both at the same time through the portal, holding hands, so they hadn't gotten seperated from each other. They were both puzzling where the others were and where to go from this point.  
  
"This is off to a good start." Link murmered after a while. "We're supposed to safe the world and all, but we're freaking lost!"  
  
"Well, we're looking for that kind of portal Hayabusa was talking about. If it is supposed to bring in a huge army, then the portal has got to be huge as well." Zelda said, looking up in the sky.  
  
"Very clever thinking, babe." Link commented with a grin.  
  
"There's no need for sarcastic jokes, Link. You're starting to sound like Terry."  
  
"Hey, hey! I'm not THAT grumpy!"  
  
Zelda chuckled. She restored herself with a gentle clearing of her throat and a hand in front of her mouth. It had been about a year since she had left the castle now, but she was still a princess. And she acted like one. Always decent.  
  
But what had been puzzling Link was the fact that Zelda's father hadn't really actively sent soldiers after her to get her back. Perhaps the King had found that his daughter deserved freedom. Perhaps. Link didn't know. But he did know that he would've fought hard to keep Zelda free. She shone like a pure diamant as she was free. And such a gracious bird didn't deserve to be locked up. And now she was playing a keyrole in the future of the world. Link knew she was scared. Scared as hell. But as long as he was with her, she kept herself tough. For as far as a delicate young woman as Zelda could be tough, that was.  
  
"But where are we supposed to go now? Shall we split up?" Zelda asked him. She thought of him as a sort of leader-figure. SHE was the princess, but she was no leader. She had always wondered how she would've lead the country if she would've married a prince. But that was off track now.  
  
Link shook his head. "No way, princess." he just said. "We have to find a trail or something to find that portal, but we're NOT splitting up!"  
  
"Whatever you say, my prince." Zelda sighed lovingly as she grabbed his arm and put her head against it.  
  
Link just let a soft chuckle and started to walk, Zelda still 'on' his arm. There had to be some sign of that portal! Zelda was right. That portal had to be big to spawn an entire universe-threatening army. Very big. And Hayabusa had said that they would be transported close to the site. But it was obvious that something had gone wrong, since the group had obviously been seperated. If only they would find some kind of trail to lead them...  
  
Suddenly, figures jumped down from the trees left and right, quickly encircling the two Hylians. It went swift and, before Link or Zelda were able to react, they were surrounded by half a dozen of men. They wore camouflaged suits and helmets. And black masks wich solely revealed their eyes and the part between them. They had pointed their machine guns at the two. "No trespassing, civilians." one of the men spoke, his voice altered because of the mask. "Turn around and walk away, or we will use force."  
  
It took Zelda some time to recover from this sudden surprise, but she said: "I'm sorry, gentlemen. I am Princess Zelda of Hyrule, I..."  
  
One of the men lowered his weapon. "That is impossible." he said. But he hesitated. He did a step forward and looked at Zelda thoroughly. "But it's true..." he murmered. "Your Majesty, what...?" he said, stunned as he realised that it was indeed Princess Zelda who stood there, though she was presumed dead!  
  
"I don't know what's going on, but I believe it has something to do with a portal. Am I right?" Zelda asked, politely as ever.  
  
"That's classified information. Even if you were the princess, how did you get that?" another commando asked agressively.  
  
Zelda looked at him before turning to him. "I just know. Take us to your commanding officer. It is a matter of great importance that we get there in time." she said with a soft, patient, melodic voice.  
  
The soldier hesitated, but slowly nodded. He turned to another soldier, the one who had recognised Zelda, and said: "Gamma four, take the kids to General Banderas. And make it quick."  
  
The soldier whom had been spoken to replied: "Okay, Gamma one. Follow me, your Majesty." before he swiftly moved in a direction, forcing Zelda and Link to follow him.  
  
Zelda felt uncomfortable. This was no doubt a huge military operation. The world hadn't been sitting still when she had been away. They must had realised that something was wrong. At least the seven Chosen Ones wouldn't have to face this nemesis alone.  
  
It didn't take Link and Zelda a lot of time to reach the army around the portal. They had to go through multiple checkpoints before they were allowed to the site where the generals Banderas and Pepper were. Link and Zelda were both amazed to see so much military power. Tanks, soldiers, mages, magic knights, spaceships... It was huge! And everyone seemed busy with something. Men and women running over the place, fixing things and solving problems. Zelda wondered just why the Chosen Ones were required. She was certain no one was able to break through those lines of Humans, Hylians and Lylatans.  
  
She and Link reached a bunker and met up with the Human general and the Lylatan. General Banderas, who stood outside, immediatly recognised Princess Zelda and made a short bow.  
  
"Your Majesty! You're still alive!" he said, pleasently surprised.  
  
"Yes, but there is no time for formal stuff. Where is the portal?" Zelda quickly said.  
  
"You haven't seen it yet, your Highness?"  
  
Zelda briefly shook her head.  
  
"Then follow me." Banderas said, walking away.  
  
Link and Zelda followed him until they reached the ominous portal. They could barely believe their eyes as they saw the enormous, frightening object casting it's eerie glow across the plains, soldiers and vehicles. "What in Farore's name is that..." Link murmered in complete shock.  
  
"The portal..." Zelda muttered. Suddenly, the portal's aura caught grip of the young sorceress. She got scared. She knew the huge armies of Hylians, Lylatans and Humans would not stand a chance against the onslaught that would emerge from that evil portal. Her body started to shiver and she grabbed Link's arm. "We cannot do this alone, Link. We can't. We need Terry and the others or we'll die!" She panicked.  
  
Link turned to her and saw the frightened glance in her eyes. "Come on, Zelda. It's not going to open yet." he said nonchalant.  
  
"Not yet, but shortly. A few minutes. At most!" Zelda said, nearly screaming the last part.  
  
Link grabbed her arms and looked her in the eyes. "Are you certain!?" he nearly yelled.  
  
Zelda nodded.  
  
"Shit! Shit!" Link yelled. He quickly turned to Elia. "General, we need to find..."  
  
"Hey, fairy boy, I hope the party's about to start!" Terry yelled from afar. He was accompanied by Kyo, Fox, Mary and Galford. They got stopped by soldiers, who came running from all sides to stop the five.  
  
"Let them pass!" Zelda ordered Elia. Zelda was VERY good at giving orders. No one dared to withstand the beautiful young princess. Elia immediatly raised his hand as a signal for the soldiers to let the five pass.  
  
"Hurry up!" Link yelled to Terry and the others, just when a strange wind was starting blow through their hair.  
  
Zelda looked to the side and saw that the frame of the portal was beginning to glow. She let a shriek, drawing Link's attention. As soon as he noticed the dark-red glow, he felt incredibly nervous. "It has begun..." he murmered.  
  
Terry, Kyo, Fox, Mary and Galford had seen it too and ran as fast as they could to Link and Zelda. Terry, Kyo and Fox had come across Mary and Galford as they had been chasing the chopper. It had been pure luck, but neither of them complained, for they were all nervous and scared. They would need each other.  
  
But they weren't the only ones. All the soldiers, Hylian, Human and Lylatan, stood paralysed. They all felt that strange dread. It was that pure fear that radiated from the portal, amplified a thousend times.  
  
"Get your men out of here..." Link said to Banderas.  
  
Banderas, after finally getting his wide opened eyes off the still brighter glowing portal, looked at the Hylian. "Are you nuts? There are thousends of men of dozens of divisions. I can't simply pull them back!"  
  
"Then they will all die!" Link yelled, trying to outyell the now howling wind.  
  
No one knew what to do at that time. But what was there to do? Something that was not explainable happened. The wind increased in intensity even more. Terry held on to his cap as he cursed. Zelda searched for shelter with Link, who wrapped his arms around her. "I'm so scared, Link." she yelled, for she was. She wasn't exagarating. "Me too, babe." Link softly murmered. He didn't know whether the princess had heard it, but he held her tightly. Fox held his hand above his gun as of habit. His ears were flat on his head and he looked grim. Something was coming. Something so fucking huge! The wind got the better of Mary and she was about to fall, but Terry quickly grabbed her arm and pulled her to him, holding his cap with his free hand. "Hold on!" he yelled. Mary wrapped her arms around his waist and held on tightly. Galford was the only one who stood up straight. His eyes narrowed. Evil was approaching! Big time. Kyo felt the fire raging. It hurt. The fire was nervous... And if something as powerful as an elemental was nervous, it could only mean one thing: This was going to be bad.  
  
Suddenly, a bright light shot out from the portal, forcing the seven to cover their eyes. Mary buried her face in Terry's chest and Terry moved the flap of his cap over his eyes as he put his hand on the back of Mary's head. Zelda pressed herself even closer to Link, as if she wanted to hide inside him. Kyo and Fox dropped to the ground to cover their eyes and Galford merely turned away.  
  
Mary had no idea how long the light had lasted, but one moment, it suddenly disappeared. She moved a little back and looked at Terry, who had been holding her all the time. She expected some annoyed comment, but it didn't come. He was staring at the portal. Mary turned around and saw it too. The shimmering of the interiour was gone. Through the portal, a landscape could be seen. A strange land. Dark and dry. But there was more. In the distance of the land, the horizon was almost black from the army that was approaching rapidly. Mary couldn't see clearly just what it all was, but for as far as the eye could see, there were moving things in the distance. And it would take only minutes for them to reach the entrance to Earth. The portal was open and the war had just begun. 


	24. The battle for the Portal

Chapter 24: The battle for the Portal  
  
"Let's go! Move it! Move it!" Tanks rolled through the portal without second thought. Soldiers quickly took position in the unknown land and the magic knights moved their horses to the other side. Princess Zelda had convinced General Banderas that the army that was approaching was dangerous. It hadn't taken the young princess long, for everyone felt the dread and the evil intentions of those whom approached them. So mankind then made one of the most stupid military decisions since Hitler's decision to take on Russia: They decided the army had to be stopped before it entered the world. The armies of the Humans, Hylians and Lylatans marched into the unknown land, taking positions and setting up turrets and bunkers as fast as they could. The portal was big enough for the huge Lylatan warships to enter the other dimension. These gigantic vessels of pure destruction embraced the hearts of the soldiers with extra courage they so badly needed. For they would fight an unknown enemy which was probably no race that had ever been witnessed.  
  
The seven Chosen Ones stood and watched. They were impressed by such a huge army on the move around them and seeing it only made them more desperate. "What are we supposed to do now?" Kyo asked.  
  
"Well, I don't know. Follow them perhaps?" Terry said sarcastic.  
  
"But what difference will we make? What makes us think we can match a high- tech tank?" Mary said.  
  
"I don't know. Look, we possess some powers, but are we strong enough to match anything that a full army can't?" Kyo said.  
  
Terry walked to the entrance to the other world and looked around as soldiers ran past him. He brassed his knuckles. "There's only one way to find out." he said. He turned to his friends. "Come on, guys. We didn't do this training just to watch others fight. I finally want to kick some serious ass here!"  
  
"Yes, but what if we do not possess those powers here? What if it was all fake?" Mary said careful. Kyo then stepped towards Terry. "We possess the powers. I know. I feel the fire inside me. It burns for this fight. And I am ready." he murmered, just loud enough for the friends to hear it above the noise of moving military material. He turned around to face the five again. "We have to fight. It's our destiny." he said.  
  
Terry put a hand on Kyo's shoulder. "I don't believe in destiny, but I DO believe that a good fight..." He pointed in the direction of the portal. "Is THAT way." He stepped towards the portal again and looked over his shoulder one last time. "You can sit here and be scared or fight like you've never done before and give 'em hell." He tugged his cap. "I chose the last. Okay!" he said before he ran into the portal.  
  
"Okay?" Link said, looking at Kyo.  
  
"I guess he's looking forward to this. As am I." Kyo said before he followed his friend to the other world.  
  
Fox started to walk towards the portal as well. "I guess I indeed said I'd kill more than Terry. I don't want to give him a headstart!" He then ran after Kyo, through the portal, between the soldiers and tanks, to the position where Terry stood, impatiently tapping the ground with his foot.  
  
"Well, darling..." Link said to Zelda. "Shall we join them? I think it'd be most inapropriate to let them have all the fun, what do you think, my dear?"  
  
Zelda chuckled softly at the way Link said it. He always knew how to cheer her up when things got tense. "Why, of course, sir Link. Would you be so kind to escort this lady to the battlefield?"  
  
"Most certainly, milady." Link answered as he graciously took Zelda's hand and the two started to walk to the portal.  
  
"Why do those idiots always have to make a show out of everything?" Terry sighed. He turned around and saw that the horizon was dotted with strange beings. He couldn't see what it were, but he did see that they weren't Human. Perhaps Lylatans? No, the shapes were too grotesk. Terry swallowed. What the hell was approaching them? But he took in a deep breath of fresh air and patted himself on the chest. "Terry, my man. This is gonna be a fight you'll never forget." he murmered with a slight smile.  
  
He then noticed all the seven Chosen Ones, Mary and Galford included, had stepped through the portal and were in the strange land. It was nothing but a wasteland, but they could breathe and that was a relief on itself. "I don't know what we'll be facing, guys. But it sure ain't human." Terry said, pointing at the horizon.  
  
Fox squeezed his eyes and saw the enormous amount of... things which approached them. It was a very disturbing sight. "What the..." he murmered, stepping forward.  
  
"I want to know what those things are..." Terry said as he started to walk towards the huge army that was closing in.  
  
"Terry, don't be stupid!" Mary yelled frightened as she saw what he was planning to do.  
  
"Don't worry, I'll be right back." Terry said confident.  
  
Mary wanted to stop him, but Fox held her back with a stretched arm. "Terry isn't stupid. Let him take a better look if he wants to." Fox said.  
  
Terry walked nonchelantely towards the advancing enemies. His hands in his pockets, whistling the national anthem. He hated it, but it calmed his raging nerves. The chaos of assembling soldiers and material was too great for any of the soldiers to notice Terry walking towards the enemy. Terry walked past the last soldiers and looked over his shoulder to see his friends staring at him. He gathered his courage and continued his strawl.  
  
As he got closer to the hostile army, he felt the ground actually shake and rumble. He stopped and swallowed. He saw smaller things closing in faster than the entire army. But that wasn't what scared him the most. It was the size of it all. The mysterious army was a still a long way from him, but as far as he could see, there was nothing but a dark mass of creatures that approached him. And it covered the entire horizon, which stretched for miles. He looked around, but from everywhere he looked, armies advanced. From all sides! Masses! He couldn't even see what it were that filled the rangs, but he was so frightened. Terry Bogard was actually scared. Scared to death. He had never really experienced true fear, so it took him completely by surprise. He stood paralysed as the enemies came closer and closer from all sides, safe for the side where Terry had come from and where the portal was.  
  
"This is so fucking huge... We're going to die..." Terry murmered in shock. He woke up just in time to see that the smaller units of the hostile armies were VERY close now. There were already enough of the smaller things to eliminate the entire allience of Hylians, Humans and Lylatans, but it was just a small fraction of what was really coming. Terry tried to see what those smaller things actually were.  
  
He was least surprised, but at the same time shocked to see that it were man-tall skeleton-things. They ran with abnormal speed and screamed. Their mouths were constantly open in a scream and they were armed with a huge variety of weapons. From swords and shields to strange gun-like weapons. Some of them had skin and flesh attached to their bones, but it wasn't much. Some even had eyeballs half sticking out of their sockets and some were badly deformed humanoid skeletons with a huge head or arm. And that was just the small part. And they came running from all sides, encircling the portal and therefore, the armies of the alliance. Even if the skeletons wouldn't do a thing but run towards the defenders of Earth, the soldiers would not have enough firepower to blow them all away. And then the bigger things would come...  
  
There was no reason for Terry not to be scared as hell from the events that were about to happen. He had been standing there for so long that the skeletons had gotten too close to him. Way too close. Terry started to run. He had never run. Never! But when he was halfway between the armies and the skeletons, he stopped. That was right. He had never run. And he would most certainly not do so now! He turned around again and his eyes narrowed. He raised his fists. "Come on, you ugly motherfuckers!" he yelled brave.  
  
The skeletons got closer and closer and those with guns started to shoot at Terry. They came from left, right and from the front. They encircled him, leaving only the way to the armies of the alliance open. Terry started to run towards the skeletons which approached him from the front. His adrenaline started to race again, enabling his body to swiftly dodge the strange laser-type projectiles fired at him. Terry raised his fist as he approached the skeletons. A few with swords tried to attack him, but he knocked them down with his other fist, chopping of limbs and heads as he went.  
  
As soon as he approached the huge group of skeletons which he had picked as a target, he swiftly stopped. He slammed his fist hard down onto the ground. "Power Geyser!!" he yelled. A crack in the earth started to appear, inceasing rapidly in size and swallowing some skeletons. But that wasn't what Terry had planned. Suddenly, a gigantic geyser shot out from the gap. It was huge! About the size of a flat! It shot up into the air and almost literally nuked everything around Terry, without even harming him. The bodies flew through the air, actually killing some more enemies at which the bodies flew. Blood and chunks of flesh rained everywhere. Terry had punched a hole in the lines of skeletons, but there were still more approaching. Way, way more.  
  
But this time, Terry decided that it was wiser to run. He turned around and did so, running as fast as he could. Suddenly, explosions started to errupt around him, blasting enemies left and right. Machinegunfire sounded and cannons could be heard. Terry couldn't surpress a smile as he ran between the armageddon that encircled him. He saw tanks approaching him, shooting at anything hostile. And there was a LOT of hostile! Jeeps raced past the running Terry and the men on the backsides of the jeeps let their machineguns fire at anything that moved, leveling lines of skeletons. But there were many, many more. Terry ran past the tanks and saw the huge Lylatan warships hovering above him, firing their ominous cannons into the skeletons, vaporizing them within moments.  
  
Terry's moment of joy got interrupted by a huge explosion nearby, which sent him falling to the ground. One of the skeletons had blown up a tank with a rocketlauncher. "Cursed fuckers!" Terry murmered as he quickly got up and continued his run to his friends. The other Chosen Ones had witnissed Terry's actions and approached him quickly, wanting to waste no time watching the action. They wanted to be part of the action!  
  
Although that was for some. Zelda was scared. She saw men getting shot down by the skeletons. She heard the screams and saw tanks being blown up. She had never witnessed a war before. But then again, neither of the Chosen Ones had ever seen anything this huge! But their sense of responsibility conquered their fear. And bravely, they all charged into battle.  
  
General Banderas had witnissed Terry's tremendous power and was pleasently surprised. Those youngsters held some mysterious powers! Normally, he would've arrested them for study or something, but that was a ridicilous thought at the moment. They were facing a humongous army of the strangest things ever seen and the seven youngster were a good help. He tried to show that he wasn't affraid. That he wasn't scared of those things that were facing the soldiers. But he was. Scared to death. This wasn't natural. This whole world wasn't natural. It made him feel depressed... But he wasn't the only one. The soldiers fought out of pure fear. Most of them lost their cool and just fired away. It was chaos. Mostly because the armies were completely surrounded. And amidst that chaos of death, destruction and pain, seven youngsters fought the biggest battle of their lives.  
  
Zelda, despite her immense magical powers, kept as close to Link as possible. She didn't want to face the horrors alone. She was just too inconfident.  
  
"Okay, babe. I've got a plan that can't fail." Link said to a frightened Zelda, who held on tightly to his arm. The skeletons were still somewhat away from them, so he pointed his sword in their direction and said: "First of, we move forward and kill them all. Then we're going home and fetch a good mug of beer, what do you think?" Link said it to cheer Zelda up, but it didn't help much.  
  
"I can't do it, Link. I CAN'T!" Zelda yelled above the noise of machineguns, magic, blasters, explosions and deathcries.  
  
Link looked her in the eyes. They were shaking with fear. Tears rolled down her cheeks and her body was shivering. "Princess..." Link started.  
  
"I can't... I don't want to do this... I... I want to go home... Come home with me, please!"  
  
"Zelda, I'm fighting. You know that. And we can't win this without you." Link said. At that moment, he had no idea how naive his comment was.  
  
Zelda franticly shook her head. "NO! NO! NO!" she yelled. "I'M SCARED!"  
  
Link then grabbed Zelda's head with both his hands and pressed a deep kiss on her lips. Zelda grabbed his hand with her shaking one and softly squeezed it.  
  
Link suddenly felt a push against his shoulder. He looked at the source of it and saw Terry, punching his way past a couple of skeletons. "Get your asses moving, wussies!" he yelled, breaking a skeleton in two by standing on the creature's feet and pulling the monster's upper-body off it's lower- body with his hands.  
  
Link turned away from Zelda and drew his sword. "Wait for me, Terster!" he yelled, dashing off, twirling his weapon between his fingers, leaving Zelda alone. There was no time for love at that moment. It hurt him, but he had no choice. And Zelda would be able to take care of herself. He ran past Terry, taking some skeletons down with his swinging sword.  
  
"Hey! Those were mine, fairyboy!" Terry yelled.  
  
"I didn't see a name on them!" Link returned. He then noticed a skeleton aiming a gun at him. He felt it, sensed it... He turned to the monster as it fired. It fired clumsily, not taking in account the recoil. Link's eyes narrowed. Everything went slow. He focussed on the bullets that approached him. For his senses, they flew slowly. But his senses were enhanced a million times. He lifted his sword and concentrated. In one fluid, rapid movement, his sword slashed the air. It went so fast that the air started to sissle a little because of the heat created by the motion. Sparkles shot about, indicating the contact between the sword and the bullets. Link didn't got hit. He stopped every bullet with inhumanly swift moves.  
  
Link lowered his sword and started to breathe again. "Farore..." he muttered.  
  
"Showoff!" Terry yelled as he chopped off a skeleton's leg with a neatly placed kick. The American saw a Skeleton approaching with a huge sword, at least two meters in length! The skeleton walked slow, but somehow, Terry's mind chose the monster as a primary target. Terry felt the being was the most dangerous at that moment. He turned to the being as it raised his sword clumsily. Terry's fist shot out and knocked down another skeleton which tried to attack him from the side. Terry saw the huge sword falling towards him. He did a simple step to the side and the giant metal object crashed into the earth. Before the skeleton even had the time to try to lift his sword again, Terry, facing the skeleton with his left side, made a slight jump and threw his right foot into the air, turning up-side-down as he did it. "Crack Shot!" he yelled as his movement fluently continued and his right foot crashed into the skeleton's head, splitting it mercilessly in two. Terry stood up and noticed a rotten brain sticked out of the fallen skeleton's head. "I gotta hand it to you guys. You DO have brains." Terry said grinning as he straightened his cap.  
  
Fox's blaster was seriously overheating as he mowed through the waves of skeletons. He all took them out with one neatly placed shot per enemy, but he was just outgunned. He ran, jumped, flipped and dodged his way past the bullets and arrows, taking out skeleton after skeleton, but he realised he would need a lot more firepower than his simple blaster if he would be able to match the upcomming waves of monsters. He quickly looked around, but saw that he wasn't any close to someone who was on his side. Not by far. He was completely surrounded! And the skeletons were getting pretty close as well! He dodged an axe and shot the owner of it through his head, shedding some strange liquids over the ground. But the situation was getting pretty desperate. Fox knew there was only one sollution to this pressing problem. He had to break through. The most simple plans were usually the most effective. He put his blaster away and stretched his arms. His ears flattened on his head and his eyes narrowed. He felt his energy building as the skeletons swarmed around him.  
  
Right before the monsters would attack, just right before that, Fox felt something inside him explode. With the sudden release of build-up energy, Fox shot up high in the air in an instant, his body somehow leaving a trail of fire behind, burning some skeletons in an instant. Fox hadn't expected that this would happen. His body had just reacted to the situation.  
  
As if he was a rocket, his body flew through the sky in a wide arc. "Mother!!" Fox yelled as he saw the ground swiftly approaching them.  
  
Terry ducked to avoid an axe and then punched the skeleton straight through his ribcase, chopping down the spine as well. Suddenly, he heard a strange noise coming from the sky. He looked up. "What an idiot..." he murmered in surprise.  
  
Fox's eyes grew wider as soon as he saw what he was about to hit. "Oh, shit! " he yelled. He closed his eyes, right before he crashed into Terry. The two fell down and rolled a few meters further as though they were one. When they finally stopped, Fox lay on top of Terry. Again. The Lylatan blinked his eyes a couple of times before he shook his head. "Did I hurt you, honey?" Fox asked Terry with a confused voice.  
  
"Get the hell off me, you ridiculous excuse for a fighterpilot!" Terry yelled, as soon as he was over his surprise. He pushed Fox off him and immediatly stood up. "You are gay, aren't you!?" Terry yelled, loud enough to be heard amongst the raging battle.  
  
Fox stood up as well and put his arm on Terry's shoulder. "Yes, dear. But I thought you knew?" he commented with a pitch-high voice. Before Terry was able to return something, Fox's eyes grew big. "Bent!" he quickly said.  
  
"What!?" Terry yelled with a mingle of surprise and anger.  
  
"Duck! I mean duck!" Fox yelled.  
  
Terry turned around and saw two skeletons with swords charging him. They were milliseconds away from chopping his head off. "Shit!" Terry yelled. He and Fox both swiftly ducked and avoided the blades by an inch as the skeletons passed by them, unable to halt because of the heavy two-handed swords they wielded. However, Terry's ponytail ended up as a casualty. A small tip of it got chopped off.  
  
Terry swiftly turned to the monsters again and punched the ground with his fist. "Power Wave!" he yelled. Out of his fist, a fiery wave which reached up to his hips shot towards the skeletons, scorching the ground over which it travelled. On contact, the monsters got knocked over and were unable to get up again as the wave vaporized into thin air.  
  
"Power wave?" Fox said, unable to hold a chuckle.  
  
"Hey, a real man yells as he fights, okay?" Terry said.  
  
"And you're supposed to be that real man?" Fox asked as he swiftly drew his gun and shot down a skeleton which tried to attack him from behind.  
  
"At least I don't have fur..." Terry returned.  
  
"That's what I don't like about you Humans. You're SO arrogant."  
  
"And what is THAT supposed to mean?" Terry asked, stepping backwards to avoid a salvo of bullets.  
  
"You just assume that being bald like you are is normal."  
  
"Duck!" Terry said as Fox ducked and Terry hit the skeleton that was behind Fox with a neatly placed turning kick which flew just over Fox. Fox then dropped to the ground and shot down a skeleton straight between Terry's legs.  
  
"What are you, crazy!?" Terry asked indignant. "You could've shot off my balls, you stupid rodent!"  
  
"So? You never use them." Fox returned, shooting straight past a soldier, killing a skeleton which was waving a machinegun.  
  
"At least I've got them. Cannot be said about you, right?" Terry commented, sticking his hands in his pockets. He noticed danger, so he quickly jumped up, making a backflip. Some clumsy skeleton who had tried to pierce him with a spear stumbled underneath him. When Terry returned to the ground, he faced the monster's back and kicked it hard, chopping the being in two while not removing his hands from his pockets.  
  
"Oh and how does mister Bogard think Lylatan babies are made?" Fox asked annoyed.  
  
"I don't know. The stork maybe?" Terry said grinning.  
  
"Jeez, you're such a racist." Fox said, flipping backwards to avoid a glowing red laserbeam while shooting two skeletons who stood next to each other clean through their heads with one shot. When he landed on his feet again, Terry walked to him, just in time to avoid a soaring arrow.  
  
"I'm no racist! If I were a racist, I'd say... black people are thieves." he said.  
  
"And now you're saying that Lylatans get their babies delivered by storks and that they don't have..."  
  
Suddenly, something flashed behind Fox. The Lylatan turned around and saw three skeletons collapsing on the ground. He saw Galford standing next to them. "Instead of arguing, shouldn't you two help slay the Evil?" he asked sarcastic.  
  
"I'm going to slay you if you don't shut up, justice-boy!" Terry said aggrivated.  
  
Fox moved his head a bit backwards to evade a lightning bolt and then said: "Galford is a bit right, Terry. Let's go kick something."  
  
Terry removed his hands from his pockets. "I guess you're right. But if you jump me again, I'll make sure you'll regret it for the rest of your life!"  
  
Galford flipped backwards, kicked a skeleton down with both his feet, using the monster as a way to get higher by bouncing off him. Galford made another flip in mid-air and warped away from sight.  
  
"Oeh, justice-boy has to show off. Asshole." Terry said annoyed. "I wonder where Mary is." he then continued, switching subject quickly.  
  
"Hey!" Mary said taunting as she faced a group of skeletons with her side and pointed at herself with her thumb, while waving with her other hand, which hung behind her back. "You boys want to play?"  
  
The mindless monsters attacked Mary, regardless of what she said, but it was in Mary's nature to taunt danger, no matter how grave it was. She ran towards them, past a soldier whom was firing at the same skeletons. Mary was just in time to duck to avoid his salvo, but she fell clumsily on the ground. The soldier had seen it and startled. He had hit her!  
  
The skeletons smelled the furure annihilation and gathered around Mary. The soldier couldn't see what happened, but was shocked as he saw the monsters stabbing with their weapons at the defenseless Mary. He couldn't respond in any way. He didn't see Mary, because of the enormous amount of skeletons around her, but she couldn't have...  
  
The next moment, one of the undead got launched away and flew past the soldier, who followed the soaring monster with surprised eyes. Then, Mary ran out of the group of skeletons, kicking one away from her. She wasn't fleeing, she was chasing the soaring skeleton. "I'm not through with you yet, buster!" she said as she ran as fast as she could. As soon as she, somehow was close enough to the soaring monster, she jumped up, turned her body a little so that her legs faced the being, and grabbed his neck with her legs. She then returned to earth by ways of gravity, facing the soil with her legs, the skeleton screaming underneath her. When she hit the ground with her knees, the shock that went through them broke the neck of the skeleton.  
  
Mary slowly stood up and dusted off her blue trousers. She checked the small cut in the side of it. "Barbarian." she murmered. She tossed her leg to the side and chopped off a skeleton's upper-body. Having done that, she threw her still standing leg into the air and fell face-down to the ground, right when a salvo of glowing laserbeams shot over her. She caught her fall with her arms and tossed her legs in the air again, now standing solely on her hands. Had she not done that, a skeleton would've cut off her legs with a giant axe. But the axe hit the ground and got stuck. Mary then wrapped her feet around the monster's head and used her hands to give the floor such a push that her body spinned around and the head of the monser spinned off his neck. Mary kept her balance, however, but noticed a skeleton with a big sword approaching her. He swung his sword, determined to cut Mary in two. But the Human let her hands go and rolled into a seated position, just in time to avoid the sword. She grabbed the skeleton's leg and made a slight jump with one leg as she turned her body around vertically and struck the monster with the back of her other leg. The small salto made her land on her feet again as she let go of the dead skeleton's leg. Those things weren't able to handle a hard hit on the chest. Mary stood up straight and took a deep breath. She moved her hand through her fine, chin- length blonde hair and then tightened her fingerless gloves. This certainly was tough. But she had never felt so alive before in her entire life.  
  
In the distance, she could see Kyo, burning himself a way through hordes of skeletons. She saw the flashes of fire lightening the place. The explosions and gunshots around her... She had started to ignore them. All she could focus on was the fight. If she could've only fought her way out of Geese Howard earlier. How she would love to meet him now face-to-face. And beat him up. But he was dead. A true pity. She evaded a spear and grabbed it. She pulled the weapon and threw her feet in the air, kicking the owning skeleton of the spear straight against his head, breaking his skull. She elegantly bowed her back backwards as she fell back to the earth in order to be able to put her hands on the ground and stand on them again. She slowly let her feet return to the ground and stood up. She sighed. She still hadn't told Terry just what kind of feelings she had developped for him. But he would just make fun of her would she tell him. Then why did she love him anyway? She had asked herself that question so many times before. She ducked to avoid a skeleton with a blunt mace which attacked her from behind. She grabbed him at his neck and pulled him over her shoulder, after which she quickly sat down on one knee, while stretching out the other. Right at that moment, the skeleton's back hit that knee, breaking his spine. And again, Mary stood up. She looked down at the earth as a tear rolled down her cheek. She never allowed herself to cry. And right in the middle of that huge battle, she let a tear. She slowly brushed it away from her cheek with her indexfinger.  
  
Zelda tried to catch her breath as a skeleton approached her. Her heart was racing. She looked behind her. The portal was just there. She could make a run for it. But what if he would catch her? She was so scared. She stumbled backwards as the skeleton approached her. "S... stay away from me, you... you freak!" Zelda yelled frightfull. She wanted to scream for Link, but she noticed she had gotten way off the main battle in the mean time. No one would hear her. The skeleton kept approaching and Zelda kept walking backwards.  
  
Suddenly, a bony hand grabbed her shoulder, making her swiftly turn around. The next moment, she stared in the horrid face of a second skeleton. This startled the young princess enormously. She backed away, right when the skeleton raised his sword. "NO!!" she screamed as fear took control. She raised her hand to stop the skeleton's sword and turned her head away, fearing that she would die. But then, something inside her happened. Her mind took a decision for her. Her eyes lit up and her body started to glow with a golden light. And the strangest thing occured... The two skeletons backed away... scared. Their dark nature feared that glowing power within Zelda.  
  
"GET AWAY FROM ME!!" Zelda screamed. She stretched out her arms and at that moment, an enormous power got released from inside the girl. It was almost as if she exploded as a shockwave of sizzling golden energy shot out of her, vaporizing the two skeletons in an instant. But the shockwave expanded even further. A giant ring of pure ever-growing holy might shot away from her, racing across the battlefield. The shockwave raced past the soldiers, tanks and knights without even such as touching them. It went straight through them. The skeletons, however, immediatly vaporized on contact, leaving not even dust behind. The wave expanded not only in length, but also in height. The Lylatan fighterpilots had no idea what was happening to them as they flew through it. Everyone who made contact with the wave experienced a brief period of pure happiness.  
  
"What the hell?" Terry murmered as he noticed the shockwave as well. He patted Link on his shoulder. "Eh... fairyboy?"  
  
Link turned around and startled as he saw it too. A wave of energy rolling towards them.  
  
"If that kinky girlfriend of yours isn't behind this, then I'm Thomas O'Malley." Terry murmered.  
  
Link forgot about the wave for a moment and looked at his friend. "What?"  
  
"You know, the big red cat from the Aristocats?" Terry said, looking at Link.  
  
"I'll just pretend I hadn't heard that." Link returned, who focussed his view on the wave again, which was purifying the entire battlefield.  
  
It didn't take the wave long to reach the two friends and they got engulfed in Holy energy. And they too, experienced that fantastic feeling. Pure happiness. For a short moment. And when the wave had passed them, they just looked at each other as the magical energy continued to cleanse the battlefield of all unholy presence. 


	25. Death and Decay

Chapter 25: Death and Decay  
  
Zelda stood there, panting and sweating. Her heart was racing again. She was the most powerfull of the Chosen Ones, but this... this had taken great toll of her. What a power she wielded! She scared herself. Again.  
  
Suddenly, she felt a hand on her shoulder. Again. She startled and turned around with a shriek, just to stare in the surprised eyes of Link. She immediatly clung on to his shoulders, burying her blonde head in his chest.  
  
Link wrapped his arms around her, giving her some protection in the ugly world.  
  
"Hmph. I turn my back on you ONE time, fairy boy, and you're trying to get into her panties again." Terry's rude response was as he came walking to the two Hylians, his hands nonchalantly in his pockets. He stopped next to Link and Zelda as the two looked at him. "Well, I guess we nuked pretty much their entire army. Let's go home okay? Not much to be done anymore around here." He said.  
  
"We?" Link said challenging. "I thought it was Zelda who created that wave." he continued as he let go of Zelda and turned to Terry.  
  
"Hmph. If you would've given me five more minutes, I would've killed them all as well."  
  
"Sure, Terry." Fox said, walking past the Human to congratulate Zelda.  
  
"Absolutely, Terster." Galford said, waking past him as well.  
  
"I don't doubt it, Terry." Kyo said, following not much later.  
  
"Haha. Aren't we funny?" Terry said, putting his hands in his sides. That was strange... No bright comment from Mary. He looked around. She was nowhere to be found. Terry of course wasn't worried about her. Not at all. Not one bit. But he didn't feel like sticking close to all those slimeballs kissing up to Zelda, so he decided to go and look for his fellow American.  
  
After a while, he found her. She was sitting on the ground, facing him with her back, her jacket next to her. She was staring in front of her, not distracted by the chaos around her. The chaos formed by grief, surprise, moving material, cheerful people...  
  
Terry noticed her rubbing her arms. She was cold. No wonder. Her top didn't really give the best of protection against the harsh land. But why didn't she put on her jacket? Stupid woman.  
  
He walked to her and picked up the jacket, which he carefully hung on her shoulders. "You're going to get a cold, moron." he said, ever so tactful. But before he could remove his hands, Mary grabbed on of them and softly squeesed it, not ceasing her staring. This motion startled Terry. What the heck was she... He wanted to withdraw his hand, but somehow... couldn't.  
  
"We won." Mary said, her voice containing no joy whatsoever.  
  
"Of course we won. As if a bunch of anorexia-sufferers can defeat us. Ha!" Terry said, confident as ever.  
  
Mary let go of Terry's hand and looked up at him. "It hasn't started yet."  
  
"Excuse me?"  
  
"The pain, the suffering... It hasn't begun yet." Mary spoke with utter sadness in her lovely eyes.  
  
"Jesus! What are you on?" Terry cursed.  
  
Mary stood up and put on her jacket decently, looking away from Terry, towards the horizon. "We have to get out of here. We have to get EVERYONE out of here!"  
  
"My God, you're starting to sound like Zelda, you know that? Oh no, we're going to die and suffer and hell is coming and yada yada yada. Bullshit! We won! Hayabuzzer was just being a weenie. There's nothing more than..."  
  
"Shut up!!" Mary yelled, suddenly turning around to Terry. "Shut that big mouth of yours for once and listen to me! We have to get out of here! Or we will all die... Trust me, I know!"  
  
Terry tilted an eyebrow. Mary wasn't kidding. She seemed very serious. "Okay, miss know-it-all. Let's find the other female freak and ask her opinion." Terry said, before he turned around and walked away.  
  
"Insensitive jerk." Mary said through gritted teeth.  
  
"You said something?" Terry replied, not looking back.  
  
"No, nothing." Mary said, biting her underlip and swallowing away some tears.  
  
It took the two Americans some time before they finally found the others and as soon as they had, Mary immediatly walked to Zelda.  
  
"You felt it too." Zelda concluded from Mary's worried face.  
  
Mary nodded. "We have to get out of here." she said.  
  
"Ho, ho, ho! Time out! We're not going anywere!" Terry said, stubborn as always.  
  
"Yes, we do! Or do you want to die?" Mary said angry towards Terry.  
  
"I have yet to meet the motherfucker who can kill me!" Terry returned.  
  
"Whoa! Chill, Terry!" Galford said. "Dude, you gotta relax. The girls may be right." the ninja continued.  
  
"Well, they're not, justice-boy! And if I were you, I'd keep my annoying mouth shut before something bad happens to me!" Terry returned, now facing Galford.  
  
"Shut your din-damn mouth for a change, Terry!" Link yelled aggrivated.  
  
"I believe mister I-have-no-job-so-I-just-fuck-princesses-to-earn-a-living wants to make a point for a change?" Terry directed towards Link.  
  
"You take that back, American!" Link said furious, grabbing Terry at his collar with both hands.  
  
"Keep your hands off me!" Terry said, pushing Link hard away from him.  
  
Fox' ears pointed away from the fight. They picked something else up. Something more disturbing. Fox turned to the sound of walking boots. Dark- brown medieval boots. As the Lylatan's face turned, he drew his gun at the same time. His natural instinct told him to do so. When his look finally reached it's destination, it didn't want to believe what it saw. Fox's hand started to shake, but he kept his gun pointed at the owner of the boots.  
  
The owner of the boots stopped not far from the arguing friends and crossed his arms in front of his chest, letting his dirty cape fall down gently.  
  
Fox steadied his gun and sharped his senses to the maximum. Fear grabbed his heart and squeesed it tightly, making his breathing seem harder. "Hi, Ganondorf." Fox then said to the man in front of him, trying not to show his fear.  
  
The word 'Ganondorf' silenced the arguing friends in an instant and they all looked at the Evil warlock.  
  
"Look at the collection of miserable low-lifes. How pathetic." Ganondorf said with a sigh. He had a dark aura around him. Something the friends couldn't see, but solely feel. It was a dreadful experience.  
  
"My God..." Kyo said in pure shock.  
  
"Your pitiful God can't help you now, Kyo. I am so much more powerful than He has ever been." Ganondorf spoke quietly. He turned to the ill-tempered Terry. "Well, Bogard. Don't you want to get a shot at me? I had your little friend raped. Now's your chance to get even. Come and get me, I dare you!" Ganondorf spoke with a taunting voice.  
  
"I'm going to kick your sorry ass, you bastard!" Terry yelled furious. The sight of Ganondorf had released a lot of held emotions. Emotions of despise, hatred and loss. And Terry wasn't really a forgiving person.  
  
"Terry, no!" Fox yelled as the American ran towards Ganondorf with the sole intent of killing the Evil wizard.  
  
"You will die for everything you've done!" Terry yelled as he quickly approached Ganondorf. He jumped up in the air as his fist lighted up. "Power Dunk!" he yelled as he returned to the ground and... his fist got caught by some invisible force, making it bounce off.  
  
Terry clumsily fell on his back, shaking his head to clear the dust of his cap. Ganondorf held out his hand and out of nothing, a huge sword materialised, at least two meters in length and beautifully decorated. As far as a weapon could be beautiful, that was. Ganondorf simply held the weapon as if it was a stick of wood instead of a huge metal object. Loosly with one hand.  
  
"You're so pathetic, Terry. Hardly worth killing." Ganondorf said with a grin.  
  
Before Ganondorf could strike, he felt a kick in his side. But that was all. He felt it. A soft push in his side by Link's boot. Ganondorf grabbed the young Hylian's leg and swung him through the air as if he was nothing! A couple of times, above his head, ignoring the screaming Link.  
  
"Come on, guys!" Fox yelled as he fired his gun towards Ganondorf without visible result. Kyo and Galford both charged Ganondorf at the same time, Galford with his sword and Kyo with a burning fist, Galford to the left side of Ganondorf and Kyo to the right. Right before they would collide with the evil warlock, he smashed hard Link onto the ground, creating a crack in the earth, before he simply vanished, leaving Galford and Kyo to slash air.  
  
As Link was trying to get up, Kyo and Galford had to duck to evade Ganondorf's huge blade which slashed at them at head-height from behind. Their 'sixth sense' had saved them. They were powerful, but not immortal.  
  
Mary jumped at Ganondorf's free arm in an attempt to take him to the ground by wrapping her legs around his arm and making a twist with her body. But Ganondorf made a simple swing with his arm, throwing Mary off of it with incredible strength.  
  
Mary flew through the air with a shriek, noticing a sharp boulder approaching rapidly. She tried to turn her feet, but she flew way too fast. But instead of being caught by the sharp edges of the boulder, she got caught by two arms.  
  
"You okay?" Terry asked as he looked at her, a slight worry in his eyes. Mary looked up at him and noticed the compassion with which he said it. It was a tiny little bit of compassion, only recognisable for those who really knew Terry.  
  
Mary slowly nodded.  
  
"Okay." Terry said as he gently put her on her feet. He turned away from Mary, towards Ganondorf, who was easily warding off Link, Fox, Galford and Kyo, while being watched with terror by Zelda. "I'm off." he simply said before he dashed away towards the vicious fight, which had drawn some attention from the gathered armies.  
  
But at the sight of Kyo punching flames, Galford warping and Ganondorf's simple countering, they weren't sure how to intervene. Would it matter? No. Not a bit.  
  
Link got punched in his stomach so fast by Ganondorf that it was barely visible, sending the Hylian flying off. He crashed down next to Zelda, all the bones in his body hurting beyond belief. But he stood up and ran towards Ganondorf again and again. This guy could not be more powerful than the seven of them together. It was impossible.  
  
Ganondorf dropped his sword and lowered his hands. "Come on, Chosen Ones. Give it your best shot!"  
  
"Now, everyone!" Fox yelled, seeing a chance to get a shot at Ganondorf.  
  
"Power wave!" Terry yelled, smashing the earth with his fist, creating a wave of pure strength which shot towards Ganondorf from behind.  
  
Link grabbed his sword with two hands and felt the electricity cracking through the blade, enforcing the determination in his eyes. He backed off of Ganondorf a little and then threw his fury, his blade and his body towards the Evil man.  
  
Galford swiftly warped here and there before finally appearing above Ganondorf, his sword catching sweat from his convulsive hold of the handle.  
  
Kyo tensed every muscle in his body, increasing the heat beyond imagination. Then, his entire body caught flame, creating the sound of replacing air. Though that wasn't it. The flame escaped his body. That was all. But Kyo's temperature was so high, that the fire kept raging as he ran towards Ganondorf, igniting even the dust on the dry ground.  
  
Mary came running towards the Evil wizard as well, but she was too far to reach the collision of forces in time.  
  
Zelda was still frozen in place, too scared to do anything. The rest didn't pay any attention to her, they could only see Ganondorf.  
  
Link reached Ganondorf first, slicing at him with a fury unlikely for the young man. Ganondorf managed to evade the first blow, but was pushed forward by Terry's energised Wave and felt electricity raging through his veins as Link's blade cut open his stomach. Ganondorf stumbled backwards, bent forward, and then felt a heat of such intensity, that his right arm simply melted off under his loud screaming.  
  
Kyo stood a couple of meters away from Ganondorf, blowing out his burning finger as though it was a heated gun.  
  
Then Galford dropped down behind the screaming Ganondorf, cutting open his back.  
  
Ganondorf, once proud and unbeatable, now more dead than alive, dropped to his knees, supported by solely his left arm. He lifted his head and saw Fox standing in front of him, gun in hand. The warlock's look was altered by pain and humiliation, making him seem even more uglier than before.  
  
Fox simply put his blaster against Ganondorf's forehead. "Any last words, sicko?" he said with a nearly growling, but calm voice.  
  
"To... hell with... you all!" Ganondorf said as loud as possible.  
  
"Funny you mentioned that." Fox coldly said before he pressed the trigger, blasting Ganondorf's brains against the dusty ground, colouring it with a faint pink liquid.  
  
The warlock's dead and defeated body collapsed forward, spilling the blood from his wounds in the holes in the ground.  
  
"Growse!" Mary said, making a face and putting her hand on her stomach.  
  
"Girls..." Terry sighed. He looked at Mary. "Was this your vision of suffering?" he asked mocking.  
  
"Well, he suffered alright..." Kyo said grinning.  
  
"Yeah, he did. Wonder if we can use him for fertilizer or something?" Terry said, grinning no less.  
  
"You guys sicken me." Mary said, slightly angry as Fox was smiling a little and he twirled his blaster before he put it away.  
  
"Anyway, the vile threat to justice has been vanguished, guys!" Galford said, enthusiastic as ever. He really lived among his newly found friends.  
  
"Shut up, justice-boy!" Terry said annoyed.  
  
"Well, Galford does make a point there. We DID slay some evil here!" Kyo said, enforcing Galford's point of view.  
  
"God, no. Not ANOTHER one like him..." Terry sighed, slapping his forehead. Then Mary wrapped her arms around his mid-section and held him tightly, putting her head against his chest.  
  
"I'll never forget how you saved me, my hero..." she said strikingly in a sigh.  
  
"Would you...? You really have guts, missy! Let me go this instant!" Terry said, but not doing anything to push Mary away.  
  
Link smiled, glad Ganondorf was finally really dead and that the spirits were still high. However, when he turned to Zelda, he saw her staring at the body of Ganondorf as her body was shaking with frustration, anger, fear and helplessness. He walked to her and grabbed her chin gently, making her look at him. It costed him more effort than he would've wanted. "Princess, are you okay?" he asked concerned.  
  
"Why? Why do we have to... kill. I don't want to kill..." Zelda muttered.  
  
Terry turned his back towards the two and sighed as he looked down. He wanted to make a comment, but he realised Zelda was used to luxury and comfort her entire life. The others were used to fighting, used to hurting and killing when needed. But Zelda wasn't. Ah, she was way too young for this! They were all way too young for this. He looked around and noticed that the soldiers around them were cheering. They had probably witnessed the battle. But Terry wondered. Ganondorf was finally dead, yes. But he figured Zankurou and Geese had been resurrected as well. And where were they? Perhaps Ganondorf was this prime-evil? No, that wouldn't make sense. Ganondorf had kept talking about some master or power above him. No, the Chosen Ones weren't there yet. And Terry figured they still had a pretty long way to go.  
  
"I see you can manage yourself quite well, big brother." a familiar voice sounded, drawing Terry's attention. The American turned his head and saw two very familiar people standing in front of him. A young man with long blond hair and a young woman with her long brown hair in a broad ponytail. They both wore some casual clothing. "Andy!" Terry yelled, drawing the attention of his friends as he hugged his younger brother, surprising Andy a little.  
  
When Terry finally backed away, so many questions wanted to come out of his mouth. Why Andy and Mai had left them, how they had found them again, how they were doing... But somehow, they didn't leave his mouth, leaving him to stare at his younger brother with a questioning gaze.  
  
Andy too had his questions, no surprise there either, but somehow, he wasn't really interested in answers at the moment. He was just glad that no one was dead, and especially not his older brother.  
  
Fox was already surprised that Andy and Mai had shown up, but his surprise grew even more when he saw a certain prince with an escort and... Malon... They were followed by a dog, a wolf and some kind of bird... They all came from the portal. Almost all at the same time.  
  
"Malon!" Zelda yelled as soon as she noticed the ranchgirl and immediatly ran to her and prince Marth.  
  
"Poppy!" Galford yelled as he ran to the dog, which was leading the other two animals.  
  
Kyo then noticed a girl walking through the wide portal and immediatly recognised her. "Athena!" he yelled as he ran towards her warm embrace.  
  
Fox squeesed his eyes as Link joined his side and Mary walked past them to join Terry's. Fox and Link stood well away from the reuniting friends as they looked at each other.  
  
"Link." Fox started. "You can call me paranoid, but..."  
  
"Yes, all those people from all those different countries coming here all at the same time is too good to be true. Keep alert, buddy." Link said with a gloomy voice. He walked to the dead body of Ganondorf, stepping in the evil blood of the warlock. He kept staring at the dead man. His worst enemy. Or wasn't he...? Was there something worse? He didn't know. But Ganondorf's dead, no matter how conclusive it was to it all, just didn't feel satisfying. "What do you got in store for us next, huh?" Link asked the silent body in front of him. "Whatever you've got up your sleeve..." He paused and turned away from the dead wizard, looking in the direction of Zelda, who was hugging Marth and Malon. "You won't hurt Zelda anymore." Link continued as he finally sheathed his sword. It produced a reassuring sound, but Link felt far from easy. Everyone around him was moving. They were counting the losses, putting up a base... It had been a short battle, thanks to Zelda. But it just... It wasn't... No, it didn't feel right. Suddenly, he felt Fox patting on his shoulder.  
  
"Hey, buddy. Isn't that Athena? That girl Hayabusa warned us about?" the Lylatan mentioned, pointing at the girl Kyo held in his arms.  
  
Link turned around and saw it too. "Yes, you're right. Perhaps Hayabusa was wrong about her. Seems like a nice girl to me." Link said naive.  
  
"Hayabusa is rarely wrong, Link." Fox said, drawing his blaster again and starting to walk towards the seemingly happy couple.  
  
"I'm SO glad you're okay, Kyo. I thought you..." Athena said, stopping her sentence with a doubt of what to say.  
  
"I'm fine, Athena. I've just gotten stronger, that's all." Kyo said with a smile, looking in Athena's beautiful eyes. How he had missed her. He vaguely remembered what Hayabusa had said, but it mattered not. Hayabusa had been wrong. Athena was a nice girl. And what did Hayabusa really know about her? What did such a cold ninja know about love anyway? Not a thing.  
  
Athena rested her chin on Kyo's shoulder and noticed Fox and Link coming her way. She backed away from Kyo a little and looked at him with the most innocent smile she could muster. "Kyo, I missed you so much."  
  
"I missed you too, honey." Kyo returned, smiling no less.  
  
"But Kyo..." Athena said sweetly. "Would you die for me?"  
  
Before Kyo could even form a look of surprise, he felt cold steel running between his ribs, tearing his skin, flesh and... his heart. He was too surprised to let a scream as he stumbled backwards and put his hand on the wound, staring at the treacherous Athena one more time before he collapsed on the ground.  
  
"No!" Fox yelled in horror as he saw his friend's blood colour the ground.  
  
Link stared in disbelief at Athena, who dropped a blood-stained knife with such nonchalancy that it was an insult towards Kyo's loyal friends.  
  
Terry saw the scene from the corner of his eye and he turned to the dying Kyo with a mingle of disbelief and fear. Fear that his good friend would die. That he would lose his friend. He immediatly ran to Kyo's aid and knelt down next to him, completely ignoring Athena. "K... Kyo?" Terry tried, but he saw the cut in his chest and the amount of blood pouring out of it.  
  
"They... got me..." Kyo spoke with surprise and pain in his voice as blood crawled down the corner of his mouth. His vision was fading because of the lack of blood that reached his brains.  
  
"You're going to be fine, Kyo. Don't worry!" Terry said with a panicking voice and widened eyes.  
  
Kyo pulled his lips in a vague smile. "Too... cliché... Terster..." He then closed his eyes for a moment and let a heavy breath, his last one. It was mingled with a painful moan, also the last thing his voice would ever do. Kyo was dead.  
  
"No..." Terry murmered, the full realisation that his long-cherished friend had passed away starting to penetrate his being. "No!" he yelled as he stood up, drawing the attention of all the Chosen Ones. "No! No! No!" He didn't want to believe it. He refused to believe it! He knelt next to Kyo again. "You can't be gone, Kyo!" he said, tears rolling down his cheeks. He then noticed Zelda was standing next to him, her hand in front of her mouth as she stared with a look of shock at the body of Kyo. Terry immediatly stood up again. "You know magic. Make Kyo live again." he ordered Zelda, pointing at the princess with his indexfinger.  
  
Zelda carefully shook her head. "I can not do that, Terry." she spoke softly, at a regrettable and excusing tone. She seemed stronger than before. Somehow. It was strange. Was she getting used to death? Was her innocent soul being tainted by all the blood? She seemed shocked, yes. But she didn't cry and answered Terry calmly. "Raising the dead is an evil magic, Terry. Kyo will never be the same again. He will solely become a being of hatred because of his brush with emptiness. I am sorry."  
  
Terry wanted to... but he couldn't... It wasn't Zelda's fault that Kyo was dead. No, it was Athena's! He looked at the girl with fury in his eyes. Such hatred! It was the result of his feeling of incompetence to save Kyo. If he only had seen that it had been Athena... That... that bitch had used Kyo and eventually murdered him!  
  
Mary didn't dare to comfort Terry. The young man's muscles were tense and his look... It was so frightening!  
  
"You..." Terry growled towards Athena. Terry wanted to spill her blood, to kill her in the most horrible way he could think off. Kyo had been his friend for so long... "You will die for what you have done!!" Terry yelled.  
  
Terry wanted to charge at Athena, to rip her chest open and feed her her own heart, but a sudden cackling laughter spread across the area. It was loud and was heard by everyone. It came from nowhere and yet from everywhere. It chilled every living soul to the bone.  
  
Zelda immediatly ran to Link and sought protection within his arms. But this demonic laughter scared even Link. However, that did not hold him back from protecting his princess.  
  
Insanity was poking in the minds of the Chosen Ones. The loss of Kyo and this strange laughing of something impossibly human filled their hearts with remorse and dread. Desperation was sneaking in and for a moment, there wasn't anyone left who wanted to live. Some soldiers put their guns against their heads and pulled the trigger, causing pure chaos and more grief.  
  
Zelda closed her eyes to hide from this all, but she saw nothing but blood and torture. Screaming men, women and children who were being ripped apart and skinned alive. Zelda shrieked and wanted to open her eyes, but couldn't. "Link help me!!" she screamed. "Help me!!"  
  
Link saw it too. The visions of horror. This had to the hell itself he saw. So much torment... Demons eating children, people being staked... "No!!" he yelled. He had to do something to make this stop! He wanted to draw his sword. To end this terror for Zelda and him, but his willpower didn't let him. Instead, his eyes shot wide open and he pressed his lips against Zelda. "Kiss me, Zelda." he murmered as he met a writhing Zelda who didn't allow him to kiss her.  
  
As Link's relatively calm voice penetrated the princess's mind, she opened her lips a little and allowed their love to flow between them freely. It worked. By the Goddesses, it worked! Zelda focussed on that wonderful feeling she shared with Link, those beautiful moments she had with him. The visions of horror soon disappeared from her mind, but to many others, they didn't. More people started to commit suicide without a second thought. It was horrible!  
  
Link knew they had to get out of there. And fast. He saw Terry lying on his knees and he took Zelda at her hand as he ran to the American. "Zelda, quickly. Help Mary and the others." he ordered the princess as he noticed that Mary too was devestated by this terrible experience. Zelda gathered all of her courage and let go of Link's gloved hand and ran to Mary's aid.  
  
"Terry! Terry! Pull yourself together, man!" Link tried as he shook Terry's shoulder.  
  
Terry looked up at Link with considerable effort. His eyes were like those of a madman, but the moment he saw his friend, they calmed down. "This is so sick, fairy boy..." he murmered softly.  
  
Link praised the Goddesses that Terry used the words 'fairy boy' and helped the American up his feet. "We have to find the others, Terry." he said, looking around. But all the two friends could see was blood, death and pure chaos.  
  
"My God... This is what Hayabusa meant with having to face our worst nightmares... such insanity..." Terry murmered, witnessing people shooting themselves and each other in the chaos. Link ran off telling Terry to search for the others as well. Terry did not complain. This was pure evil they were facing. There was no need for petty arguments.  
  
It didn't take the American long before he found Andy and Mai. They both looked so incredibly miserable, but just as with Link and Zelda, their love kept them from the brink of insanity. "Quickly, Andy! Take Mai with you and get as far away from here as possible!" Terry yelled through the noise of shooting guns and screaming men and women.  
  
Andy looked up from the shaking Mai. His eyes seemed to tell Terry that he understood. That he understood that Terry had to fight all this... this madness. "Be careful, big brother. And make them pay."  
  
Terry nodded. "I will. Now go."  
  
Andy did not waste time, knowing there was nothing he could to to help his brother. He stood up and helped Mai up her feet. He looked at Terry one last time before he ran with his girlfriend to the yet untainted free world and escaped the insanity.  
  
Terry saw Athena. She stood there. Laughing like a demon. With the voice of a demon. Kyo and he had fallen into her trap. And now that the Chosen Ones were no longer necessary for the Evil, they had to die. A tear welled in Terry's eye as he studied Kyo's body and ignored the screaming and terror. Kyo. His best friend. As the tear rolled down his cheek, he used his thumb to wipe it away. This wasn't right. Kyo would never have wanted him to mourn. He knew his best friend like none other. This wasn't a time to cry. This was a time to fight. When he looked at Athena again, she was gone, her laughter joining the first unearthly voice. "I'll get you, bitch." Terry murmered, straightening his cap. "You'll beg for death." he continued, walking away to search for his other friends.  
  
In the mean time, one of the bigger Lylatan spaceships started to capsize. Only God knew what horrible things happened aboard the ship. Or His sworn enemy... The ship slowly started to approach the ground, only to crash moments later, killing thousends of people in the enormous blast, swiftly turning the environment in a hell of a fire. Fitting.  
  
Zelda tried to calm Mary down, but she was too distressed herself. Mary was screaming and her body was twisting and turning, forcing Zelda to back away herself as well. The young princess felt like completely losing control of the rapidly worsening situation. She didn't like this all. No she did not like it at all. No. No, she wanted to be in a nice field a nice field with flowers and sheep. And she wanted to be home. She saw a peaceful little sheep, running past her, jumping with joy... until his head exploded. Zelda shrieked. She was starting to get crazy! She was turning mad!  
  
Terry didn't fail to notice this and ran to the girls, grabbing Mary at both her shoulders, forcing her to look at him. "Mary!" he yelled.  
  
Mary looked at him with lacklustre eyes. "Will you kill me, Terry?" she whispered, but with an unexplained joy in her voice.  
  
Terry was shocked. Was this Mary? No! He decided it was time for bigger measures. "This means nothing, okay?" he quickly said before pressing his lips to hers. It worked with Andy and Mai and it worked with Link and Zelda. Perhaps it would work with Mary as well... He noticed how soft those lips were... Very soothing...  
  
Mary's eyes widened and softened again. She moved her hand to Terry's cheek, but the young man quickly backed away.  
  
"Okay, that worked." he said rapidly, clumsy... Shy?  
  
"Well, we don't know that for sure... Better try again..." Mary immediatly suggested.  
  
"In your dreams." Terry said, making a face and retreating into his social shell. He quickly turned to Zelda and saw that the princess was in a far from good shape... She had lost all grip on herself... Terry thought it was pretty scary to see the once timid Zelda scream like some wild animal. Frightening. He knew they had to find Link in time.  
  
But Link was stunned at the spot as he noticed... Galford...  
  
The ninja was surrounded by the bodies of a hawk, a dog and a wolf. He had killed them... He looked around with swift movements of his head until he noticed Link. Galford's eyes were foggy, unsharp, unfocussed... He rolled them and turned them to strange angles. His body was shaking and he franticly held on to his blade, which was covered with blood. "I freed them from terror, Link." Galford said, the volume and tone of his voice uncontrolled. "And now... Now I am going to see Nako..." he continued, putting the tip of the blade at his chest.  
  
Link ran to Galford, startled, as he yelled: "No, Galford!" But he was just in time to witness Galford thrusting his sword through his chest and collapsing on the ground while gorgling blood. Link frightfully backed away from Galford as the ninja breathed his last breath. It was a quick death. "Din, no..." Link murmered. This felt so surreal... Two friends had been killed in a few minutes time... "This isn't real." Link started to laugh. "No, no. This... this isn't real. No! It is not!" He continued his strange laughter, a cry it was more. Until Terry grabbed his arm and pulled him along with him.  
  
"Leave Galford, we have to get out of here!" Terry spoke coldly. He knew staying here was suicide. With Zelda's arm in his left hand and Link's arm in his right, he started to walk towards the exit of this crazy domain, Mary close behind him.  
  
The chaos around the four was increasing as they searched for Malon, Marth and Fox while they drudged towards the exit to freedom.  
  
Fox, being the cool-minded young man as he was, kept thinking rationally. He kept his mind clean from unclean thoughts that would drive him mad as he searched for his friends, even as he passed Ganondorf's body and the sound of explosions, screams and gunfire were overwhelming. He decided it would be best to head back to earth and catch up with the rest there. He started to walk, but... couldn't. Something held on to his lower-leg. When he turned around, he saw it was Ganondorf. The rotting, but living corpse of Ganondorf! He looked up from his lying position and grinned at Fox.  
  
"Fuck!" Fox yelled, drawing his gun and aiming it at Ganondorf's head. Or whatever was left of it. "How long does it take you to understand..." Fox started, shooting another hole in Ganondorf's splintered head. "...that you..." He shot again. "...don't..." Again. "...stand..." Again. "...a chance!" But no matter how many holes Fox shot in Ganondorf's body, he didn't let go.  
  
Instead, the corpse of the warlock stood up. Slowly, letting go of Fox's leg. Normally, Fox would've done the smart thing and run, but he was paralysed. In horror, the Lylatan witnessed Ganondorf's body regenerating. The wounds slowly closed and flesh grew back. It was a horrible sight.  
  
As soon as Ganondorf was his former self again, he grinned at Fox. An evil, disturbing grin. "You can not kill a god, Fox!" he growled. With an incredibly swift move, he grabbed Fox at his throat, lifting him up.  
  
Fox's mind was clouded with fear, so the only thing he could do was aim his gun at Ganondorf. But Ganondorf snatched Fox's blaster from him and put it against Fox's own head. "Now let's see who really goes to hell, shall we?" Ganondorf spoke calmly, before pulling the trigger and ending Fox's existance on the mortal plane.  
  
At that moment, four Chosen Ones escaped the menace and the portal. It came to a shock to Link and Zelda that they were suddenly out of the menace and they dropped to their knees.  
  
"Take care of them, Mary. I'll find Fox and the others." Terry quickly said before running back to the portal. But before he had gathered enough courage to step through it again, he saw Ganondorf. The evil... man... raised his hand with which he held the decapitated body of Fox McCloud, showing it Terry with a grin.  
  
Terry's breathing ceased and a deadly grimace engulfed his face. "You bastard!" he screamed before he ran towards Ganondorf... and got stopped by some invisible barier. The portal... it was closing again! Something invisible was put between earth and this other dimension.  
  
"We have enough resources now to conquer the universe. Enough blood. Enough fear and suffering. We won, Chosen Ones!" Ganondorf roared in victory as he dropped Fox's remains nonchalantly. And out of nowhere, Athena, Geese and Zankurou appeared.  
  
"Fox!" Link yelled as he joined Terry's side in a futile attempt to break through the barrier. The sight of Fox's body made Link drop to his knees. "No..." he murmered in tears.  
  
"Yes, Link." Ganondorf said, walking towards the barrier while the other three remained behind him. "And now it will only be a matter of weeks before we have Earth. And when I kill all of you, I will keep your princess as my eternal sex-slave!"  
  
Link heard Ganondorf's words, but didn't want to react. He didn't care anymore. He just kept crying over the loss of Fox. And Galford's death. And Kyo's assassination.  
  
"See you in a few days, Chosen Ones!" Ganondorf said laughing before everything behind the portal started to disappear and the portal closed slowly, returning to it's previous state. The colossal device of foreign power was closed again, only to leave for the imagination to guess what cruel deeds would be performed on those still inside. 


	26. The four musketeers

Chapter 26: The four Musketeers  
  
Minutes passed. Perhaps not even entire minutes. Seconds, more. But to Link it seemed eternity. Houres at least. He had lost all sense of time as he sat there kneeled in front of the portal. His mind was racing past the recent events, but kept focussed at Fox's mutilated body.  
  
Terry stood with his back against the frame of the huge portal. His eyes were lacklustre, staring at nothing, his mind too occupied with death to really control his motions. He took off his cap in a hypnotised motion before scratching the back of his head. What was the use of it? Was that spot itching? No. It wasn't. Then why did he scratch? He had no idea. He had absolutely no idea.  
  
Mary had no idea what to do. Would she sit down? Or would she remain standing? It was a decision hard to make. She kept doubting. Would she sit down? No, better to stand... or... Sitting down had some advantages above standing... But standing wouldn't get her trousers from getting dirty. Haha! That was funny! Her trousers were already dirty! Haha! She cleared her head and noticed Zelda had disappeared from sight. Ran away obviously. She didn't blame her.  
  
She turned her blonde head to Terry. In a veil of confusion, she asked: "What should we do now?" Her voice was calm, scary almost.  
  
It took moments before Terry looked at her. "I don't know. Where's Zelda?"  
  
Mary shrugged her shoulders and slowly shook her head, waving her blonde bangs.  
  
"Must've freaked out." Terry commented. He started to walk towards the deserted camp in front of him, putting on his cap as he went.  
  
Mary turned away from him and continued to stare at the portal. She wondered how it actually got there.  
  
It took some time before Terry returned, though Mary and Link weren't aware how long. It was only when Terry appeared right next to Mary when the American young woman noticed him. She also noticed Terry was holding a portable radio or something, which he slowly put down. He pressed a button and the machina started to play. There was a CD in it and a random track was played, casting rusty tones across the valley. The device had to be quite old, so Terry increased the volume with another button.  
  
It took him some time before he realised he knew the track that was playing. The tones were filling his heart. "Empty spaces. What are we living for? Abandoned places. I guess we know the score. On and on. Does anybody know what we are looking for? Another hero, another mindless cry. Behind the curtain in the pantomime. Hold the line. Does anybody want to take it anymore?" The voice struck Terry as a bolt of memories. The volume increased as the chorus started: "The show must go on! The show must go on! Inside my heart is breaking. My makeup may be flaking, but my smile still stays on."  
  
Terry's lips followed the words. It had been a long time since he had heard that song, but he remembered it so well. He closed his eyes and kept silent and motionless the entire song, with only his moving lips to reveal that he was still alive. When the song was over, Terry opened his blue eyes again. "Queen." he murmered. I face it with a grin, I'm never giving in... The words of the song echoed through Terry's mind, making him question whether or not he would give up and walk away.  
  
At that moment, Zelda came running towards the three friends. She seemed far from desperate. "Marth and Malon are still alive!" she yelled, making Terry and Mary look up.  
  
"They are?" Terry asked surprised.  
  
"Yes!" Zelda said when she reached the two Humans, catching her breath. "They're on their way back to Hyrule. We should be going too! We can strengthen there and..."  
  
"Who says we're going there?" Terry asked with a little hostility in his voice. Zelda was way too enthusiastic for someone who had just lost three friends. And especially for someone who was too scared to kill a single opponent.  
  
"I do." Zelda said confident, raising to her full length, which was still a lot shorter than Terry.  
  
"You want to continue this... madness?" Terry asked with even more surprise in his voice. "You want to fight and die? Haven't you noticed we don't stand a chance against that?" Terry said, pointing a shaking finger at the portal.  
  
"Are you scared, Terry?" Zelda asked with such an icy calmth that it frightened Terry and Mary.  
  
"I'm don't fear an enemy I can hit. But what we faced there was pure hell!" Terry said, taking a defensive stance in front of the strangely acting Zelda.  
  
"You are scared, aren't you?" Zelda said, turning her head down.  
  
"Of course I'm scared! I don't want to go through that again!" Terry replied, feeling strange for admitting his fear to someone else for the first time in his life.  
  
Zelda looked up at Terry again, tears welling in her eyes. She had tried to remain calm, but she was only mortal. However, she had seen hell. It couldn't get any worse except for actually being there. And she feared that so much! "Listen to me, Terry. If we don't fight, earth will turn into hell! Then everyone will suffer!"  
  
Terry backed away a little. He knew Zelda was right. If he wouldn't fight, or at least try, earth would change for the worst. But on the other hand, he was scared.  
  
But Zelda actually filled in his thoughts: "Terry, you have never walked away from a fight. And now we have to fight to safe so many people. Malon, Marth, Mai... Andy."  
  
Terry looked up at Zelda again.  
  
"Many people have died, Terry. And many more will if we give up." Zelda said firm.  
  
"What can the four of us do what seven of us couldn't?" Mary commented carefully towards the younger Hylian.  
  
"We are capable of so much more, Mary. Did you see Kyo? He understood his true..."  
  
"Kyo's dead!" Terry yelled angry.  
  
"I know." Zelda said softly, almost ashamed. But also sad.  
  
"Kyo is gone. And so are Fox and Galford." Mary said concluding. "But will we give up now and let their deaths be in vain?" she continued, looking at Terry.  
  
Terry hesitated a little before he said: "You're both right. It is better to fight. But it won't make a difference. Within a few weeks, earth will fall and we will be death."  
  
"That's not the Terry I know." Mary said, crossing her arms under her brests. She waited to get Terry's attention before she continued. "The Terry I know would fight bravely against all odds. He would head first into battle to protect his loved ones. Terry, please..." she said as she started to stand closer to him. "Don't waste this opportunity to avenge the death of our friends." She spoke the words bitterly, the vision of Fox's body still on her retina.  
  
Terry's eyes narrowed. He had to protect Andy and Mai and... Mary. He had promised his father! And he had to avenge his good friends. Yes, those who had murdered them would pay! He slightly tugged his cap. "You're right. The bastards will pay!" he growled.  
  
Mary smiled slightly. "That's the Terry I know." she said. "Count me in as well, princess." she said to Zelda.  
  
Zelda smiled in relief, but when she turned to Link, she saw him still kneeling in front of the portal. Her face turned grim. She feared he would not come. Fox had been his best friend! She walked to him and stopped in front of him, facing his left side.  
  
It took a few moments for Link to look up and when he did, his expression didn't really make things easier for Zelda. She swallowed and remained motionless as she said: "Link, please come with us."  
  
Link slowly stood up and looked at the portal before he looked at Zelda. Against Zelda's expectations, he said: "You know you can count on me, your majesty. I won't have that filthy scumbag touch you."  
  
Zelda knew Link meant Ganondorf and a wave of joy overwhelmed her as she heard him say it. She wrapped her arms around his neck and hugged him tightly. "Thank you, Link." she said with the most happy voice she could muster in the situation. What would she have done without her hero?  
  
Terry thought the scene was kind of... sweet. He swallowed away his emotions and felt a dig in his side. When he turned at the source, he saw a grinning Mary. "Dry throat." he said with a monotonous voice, already knowing it was a very weak lie. When he looked back again, he saw Link and Zelda standing in front of him.  
  
Before Terry could say a thing, Zelda beat him to it: "We're going back to Hyrule. To my father's castle where we can strengthen a bit before the fight." Zelda knew seeing her father after such a long time would provide emotional burden and perhaps even stress or conflict between her father and her, but she knew Hyrule Castle was the best place to rest a little after the horrorfying experiences. And yes, she wanted to see her father.  
  
Terry nodded. "Right, guys. We've got to do this. We now know what we face and we will be ready."  
  
"Yes." Link confirmed. "And we must not forget that we still have each other."  
  
Mary nodded. "We've lost so many good friends, but we're not yet defeated."  
  
"Indeed." Zelda said.  
  
Terry slightly grinned. "I feel like the three musketeers. Only that we're with the four of us."  
  
Mary chuckled. "One for all..."  
  
"All for one..." Zelda finished softly, with a gentle smile. 


End file.
